Veela One Half
by Dumbledork
Summary: Ranma discovers that there are worse springs at Jusenkyo than the Spring of Drowned Girl. But couldn't the curse be considered a blessing in disguise? Especially once he learns about his origins? Ranma & Harry Potter crossover.
1. Prologue

DISCLAIMER: None of the characters in this story belong to me. I'm using them without the authorization from the original authors and I'm not making any money with this.

Here's a new story from yours truly. I know there's already a fic with the same name, but this one is completely different, and if you have any ideas for another title please tell me. This idea has been haunting me for more than two years and I've finally decided to write it down. Hope you'll like it. This one is different from most other Ranma/HP crossovers, since Ranma won't be an unbeatable wizard right from the start, but will have to work his ass off. Ranma won't attend Hogwarts either but another magical school.

And don't forget to review, since I'll probably work on the stories with the most reviews first. So reviewing is just like voting for your favourites. If you have any questions don't be afraid to pm me.

PROLOGUE

"We have arrived, sirs. Behold, the legendary cursed training grounds of Jusenkyo."

Ranma looked around but wasn't impressed at all. Sure, the place was beautiful and seemed peaceful, but he couldn't understand how it had managed to build such a great reputation as a training ground. All he could see was a large valley surrounded by mountains on three sides and riddled with dozens of small to medium sized springs, each of which had a long bamboo pole pointing out of it. The poles were probably used for balance practice, but then, he could have done the same at most of the other training grounds he and his father had visited over the years. He lived for the thrill and was rather disappointed when he realized that the greatest danger he'd have to face would probably be getting wet. He shrugged his shoulders and looked back at his father who was getting ready to start the training. _'Oh well, I might just as well humor him for a bit. After all, he had been so happy to come to this place. No need to burst his bubble.'_

Genma jumped onto one of the poles and shouted back at Ranma, "Are you coming? Or are you chicken? Yes, that must be it. Too afraid of getting wet. Oh, the disappointment. Where did I go wrong? Why did the Gods have to punish me with such a weak little girl as a son?"

The bespectacled martial artist knew exactly what buttons he had to push to make the boy lose his cool, and it worked once again like a charm. Calling him chicken or making fun of his manliness always got good results, but then that's how he had educated him. Not bothering to listen to the guide's warnings as to the dangers of the springs the teen jumped on a bamboo pole and went in pursuit of his father.

While Ranma and Genma were trading blows over the springs the guide let out a resigned sigh and sat down to watch the fight. He was impressed by the prowess the man and the boy were showing, but even if they should manage to hold out for some time he knew that Jusenkyo wouldn't let them off the hook, and that they were already doomed to be cursed. Sometimes he wondered if it was the magic of the place that prevented the potential victims from heeding his warnings. Yes, he must have been cursed by the gods in his youth, just like Cassandra had been in Greek mythology. Although he was telling the truth people NEVER listened to him. The guide just hoped that those two would be more reasonable than the last couple of victims who, after getting cursed, had attacked him, blaming him for their own stupidity.

While the guide was absorbed in his thoughts, the sparring match over the springs was going on and none of the two fighters was able to gain the upper hand until the older of the two overextended a punch. The pigtailed boy had been waiting for just such an opening and kicked his father in the stomach, propelling him into one of the springs below.

Ranma was balancing on the pole, waiting for his father to emerge from the spring he had landed in. The guide just shook his head, knowing what spring the bald man had fallen into. "Hey pops, are you coming? Don't tell me this little love tap was enough to put you down."

Just as he had finished his tirade a very large mass of water shot out of the spring, obscuring a massive, indistinctive form. But what had emerged wasn't the stocky, bespectacled martial artist Ranma had expected, but a large panda. Ranma was just gaping stupidly at the animal that had so easily jumped onto the pole opposite of his.

Even as he emerged from the spring Genma had a feeling that something was very wrong, but couldn't quite put his finger on it. He just felt somewhat heavier when he landed back on the bamboo pole, but dismissed the problem as he had more important stuff to take care of, namely showing his son that a lucky shot wasn't enough to incapacitate a martial artist of his caliber. No, it was time once again to show his son the difference between a master and his student. So without pondering any longer on the strange feelings he attacked the pigtailed boy once more.

The young martial artist was just stupidly standing there, paralyzed by shock and didn't put up any defense when the panda attacked.

A shocked Genma noticed the fur covering his leg when he jumped at his son, but wasn't able avert the attack in time. Since Ranma hadn't put up any defense the kick connected at full power, sending the teenager flying straight towards another one of the springs.

Genma had many shortcomings, and the man himself knew it and acknowledged them. He was aware that some of his 'brilliant' plans and training methods hadn't been quite as 'brilliant' as he had thought at first, but hindsight is twenty-twenty. However, truth of the matter was that he genuinely loved his son. The boy was his pride and joy. He had never seen anyone with more raw talent when it came to martial arts. He might not be the best or the most responsible of fathers in the world, and he was the cause of a majority of Ranma's problems, but he would die for his flesh and blood. So he did the only thing he could think of to avert the impending disaster and with an inhuman feat of grace and strength jumped after his son, grabbed the boy by the lapel of his gi and launched him out of harm's way on the other side of the cursed springs near the mountainside.

The panda let out a sigh of relief before touching the water, and the still confused boy got up and looked at the spring the panda had fallen into, waiting for him to emerge once more.

The guide flinched, knowing that mixing two curses always resulted in a combination of the two, making the victim look really outlandish In this particular case there were several possible outcomes. The man could turn into a female panda, or what otakus would call a furry pandagirl.

The guide knew that it was wrong and that he shouldn't do it, but he was unable to hide his morbid curiosity as to what would emerge from the spring. And although he wasn't really surprised, it still startled him to see the new creature since he'd never seen that particular combination before. What climbed out of the spring was an anthropomorphic female panda. The creature was very well proportioned and if it weren't for the black and white fur that covered her whole body, the panda ears on top of her head, as well as the little panda tail she could have passed as a human.

The furry examined herself, and seemed very shocked at her new appearance. But then she looked over to where her son had landed and was relieved to see that the boy was all right and didn't share her fate. What she didn't understand was why she had changed even further. Shouldn't she have simply remained a common panda? That was definitely strange, but she was confident that the guide could explain it to her. Yes, she would definitely have some words with the guide for not warning them of the danger of this place. As it happened so often, Genma shifted the blame on someone else.

Ranma just stood frozen in place, stupidly gaping at the thing that had climbed out of the spring.

The guide shivered when he saw the look the panda woman was directing at him and prayed to the gods that he would survive the woman's ire.

Two jumps was all it took for the irate Genma to rejoin the guide. She had a murderous look in her eyes and was ready to tear off the man's head if he didn't provide a cure in the next five minutes.

Before the furry could utter a single word the guide had already started explaining. "I'm really sorry about what has happened to you, but I tried to warn you. You wouldn't listen." The guy looked apologetic when he said this and Genma wasn't really the kind of person who would strike a non combatant, and felt not for the first time very ashamed of his actions, and falling back into the habit of blaming everyone else for his own mistakes. He knew that the guide was right. He tried to warn them, but did they listen? No, of course not. Once again Genma hadn't listened, and once again it had come back to bite him in the ass.

"Is… is there a cure," she tentatively asked, hope shining in her eyes, and was just as surprised as the guide when she heard her new, feminine voice.

The Chinese man shook his head. "None I am aware of, and I doubt there is one. Jusenkyo has been around for more than 4,000 years and I don't think that the archives mention anyone ever being cured. I'm really sorry, but I'm afraid you'll have to live with your condition. The only tip I can give you is to visit the Amazon tribe of Joketsuzoku. They've been living here for several millennia and will probably be able to help you deal with the curse or maybe even help you control it. But look at the bright side. Your son wasn't cursed at least, which honestly surprises me, since Jusenkyo isn't known for letting any potential victim get away.. You should be happy about that."

"How come I changed even further after falling into the second spring? I thought that since I had already been cursed it wouldn't have any effect on me. And even stranger is that I don't resemble a real panda any longer. And how is it possible that I can speak?"

"Ah, sir, that's not how the springs work. You see, every spring in this valley has a different curse. And whatever you turn into depends on the spring you fall into. All of the springs have a tragic history of something or someone drowning there, and a person or an animal that falls into one of the springs obtains the form of whatever drowned in that particular spring. But if a person or an animal falls into a virgin spring, Jusenkyo will then take that person or animal's appearance as a template for that particular spring."

"Then how do you explain this body?" She asked, pointing at the fur and waving one of her five-fingered hands in front of his face. "I'm sure there isn't a spring of drowned female panda woman."

"The curses mix", the guide explained. The first spring you fell into was the spring of drowned panda and the second one was the spring of drowned girl. If your son had fallen into that one he would have emerged as a regular human girl."

Ganma shuddered at that thought just before realization set in. He hadn't thought about it before, but if what the guide said was true, she'd be stuck with this curse forever. She'd never be able to return to civilization. She fell to her knees and for the first time in many years she started to cry, tears streaming out of her eyes in a continuous flow. She didn't care if it was unmanly. She didn't care if Ranma would probably laugh his ass off at her state; all she could think off was that her life was over. She couldn't return to society the way she looked now. Maybe she should just end her life. While Genma was wallowing in her misery, the guide came closer to her and said in a soothing voice, "There, there. Cheer up. It's not that bad."

"NOT THAT BAD?" Shouted an irate Genma, "I'M A FREAK! I'M STUCK AS A PANDA GIRL AND CAN NEVER BECOME HUMAN AGAIN!"

"That is not true," The Chinese man countered.

Genma jerked her head into his direction. "But you've just said that there weren't a cure."

"That is correct. There isn't a cure I know of, but you can turn back into a human, at least temporarily. You just need some hot water. The curses are water based. If you're splashed with cold water you turn into your cursed form; hot water, however, reverses the transformation, but only until you come in contact with cold water once again." And right then the man took a thermos out of… somewhere, much to Genma's astonishment. The guide, however, once again mentally thanked the Joketsuzoku for teaching him that little trick as it had come in handy on more than one occasion. He poured the warm water of the furry's head, who immediately turned back into his old form, much to Genma's relief. "I always have one on hand when I show people around," the guide explained. "You're not the first victim of the springs that I've seen. In fact I have at least a couple visitors every month. And it's always good to be prepared for any eventuality. My life's on the line here after all since some of the victims aren't quite as calm about it as you are."

Genma exhaled loudly, thankful that the nightmare was over… at least temporarily if he could trust the guide's explanation. He checked his body and was quite happy that everything was back to normal.

"RANMA!" he suddenly shouted, realizing the danger Ranma was in and frantically looked around for his son, hoping that nothing bad had happened to his heir.

"Don't worry," the guide reassured the distressed man, "your son is fine. He managed to avoid the springs. Look, he's at the other end of the valley near the mountainside, waving at us. We just have to make sure that he doesn't do anything stupid like jumping over the springs. The sensible choice would be to circumvent them altogether and walk along the mountainside until he reached safe ground."

"Son, are you alright?" Genma shouted over to the boy, the concern for the boy audible in his voice.

But they needn't have worried. Ranma gave his father the thumbs up, but was smart enough on his own to take the scenic route along the edge of the valley instead of jumping over to them using the poles and risk getting cursed. No curse for him, nosiree. He didn't want to end up as a panda.

On the other side of the valley Genma was relieved that Ranma was playing it safe, but he and the guide were rather surprised when the air shimmered in front of Ranma and he disappeared from their view. They heard a faint splash and some heavy cursing immediately afterwards, although they didn't recognize the voice. They didn't have the time to wonder what had happened to Ranma before they heard a large splash and saw a figure jumping on one of the poles. The shock set in as they saw just who was standing on it. Instead of the pigtailed boy they had expected they saw a beautiful girl wearing Ranma's gi. The girl was as tall as Ranma and had very long and wavy blonde hair that reached to her calves. They couldn't take their eyes away from her hourglass figure and the rather large bust that was straining the gi top and threatening to spill out of it confines. She was definitely Playboy centerfold material… and then some, but they were unable to assess her any better as the girl was too far away from them to be able to make out any more precise details.

POSTED 01/23/2009


	2. Flashback Part 1

Hi folks. Here's the long awaited (at least I hope so) first chapter of this modest, but hopefully entertaining, Ranma/HP crossover. If you like it, review. If you hate it, review. I'm happy with any feedback, positive or negative. You can also send me private messages if you have any questions. I'm always happy to interact with my readers.

**CHAPTER 1**

Elder Ku Lon, matriarch of the Amazon village of Nyuuchezu, was giving her great-granddaughter some final tips before the start of the annual tournament. Just as she was explaining some of the finer points of fighting defensively she stopped in her explanations, as she felt a disturbance coming from Jusenkyo. She had already known about the intruders at the Pools of Sorrow for a few minutes, since the moment they had passed the monitoring charms put around the valley by the Amazons, but generally there was no need for them to interfere since it was the guide's job to help the newly cursed. Thus she had thought nothing of it and had gone to see her great-granddaughter and give her some information on her adversaries.

But then suddenly she felt a shudder go through her body. She had never felt anything like the energy that has just passed through her. She couldn't pinpoint it exactly, but she was pretty sure it had come from the Pools of Sorrow. And she was pondering on it when she saw the other elders approach at a fast pace.

"Did you feel that, Ku Lon?" Soa Pu asked. "There's definitely something unusual going on at Jusenkyo. I think it would be better if we sent someone to check."

"I agree," Ku Lon answered. "I'll do it myself. It will be a nice change from the usual routine."

"Great-grandmother?" A very confused purple-haired girl interjected. She didn't really understand what the elders were talking about, except that the matriarch would leave her alone to face the challenge ahead of her. "What about the tournament? You'll miss it."

Ku Lon gave the young girl a tender look before she reassured her. "Xian, I know that you'll make me proud. I've taught you a lot over the years and even given you all the information I had on your opponents. You'll do just fine on your own. Never forget your origins. You're a member of one of the oldest, strongest and most respected families of this village. Show them your determination. I probably won't be gone for very long and should be back for the final matches.

Pumped up by her great-grandmother's encouraging words Xian Pu was feeling much more confident and decided not to bother the elder any longer.

"Farewell," Elder Ku Lon said. "I'll be back soon."

Although she hadn't said anything to the other elders since she didn't want to worry them, the matriarch had had a foreboding that whatever had happened at Jusenkyo would have a huge impact on the future. But would it have consequences for the tribe? She couldn't say. She'd have to find out.

She also thought back to what she had told her great-granddaughter. It was true that Xian Pu had a lot of potential and that she'd probably win the tournament, but that could unfortunately increase her two biggest flaws, arrogance and overconfidence, even further. Xian's mother was to blame for that, since she filled the purple haired girls head with stories about Amazonian superiority. And winning the tournament might make the problem even worse. Ah well, she'd think about it later. She had more urgent matters to attend to, namely the strange magical energy she felt coming from the cursed pools. She accelerated, hopping on her staff at a speed that would make a cheetah jealous. The closer to Jusenkyo she got, the stronger the foreign magical signature felt to her senses. It felt… primeval. Not human, but powerful. Another five minutes and she'd be there.

**0****1****2****3****4****5****4****3****2****1****0**

Meanwhile, over at Jusenkyo, Ranma was pissed. Well, saying that she was pissed was probably the understatement of the century. She was furious. Furious at her father's stupidity for bringing her to this accursed place, furious at the guide for not warning them, and especially furious at herself for her own carelessness. Blinded as she was by her anger she threw caution to the wind and jumped over the poles at a fast pace, not bothering about the consequences should she fall into another pool. She wanted to join her father and the guide as quickly as possible so she could make her displeasure known. Genma cringed when he saw the murderous look his child was giving him, but the guide's reaction on the other hand was completely different much to the bald man's surprise. He was standing there in a trance, mesmerized by the girl's beauty. Hisa face bore a lecherous grin and he was drooling.

Nope. No help from that side. Genma tried to make the Chinese man come back to his senses, but before he achieved any results, the angry blonde had already arrived and was standing in front of them, shaking in anger.

Just as the young girl was about to lay into her father, said man upended the thermos over her head, turning the girl back into a boy. Ranma was so surprised by Genma's action that all thoughts of revenge had temporarily been put out of his mind. He didn't even notice that he was male again. But Genma did and tried to calm down the irate teenager. "Calm down! Look at you. You're back to normal."

That did the trick and when Ranma looked down he was relieved to see that the two mounds that had obscured his view earlier on were gone. Since he was a guy again he didn't see any reason to stay angry. Sure, it had been a shock to be changed into something else, but thank God it was just temporary. No need to get angry over something so trivial. Right? Right.

In the meantime the guide was almost back to normal, slowly shaking off the effect of the blonde girl's aura.

"Son, we need to talk," Genma solemnly said. "You're male again, that's true. But…" and here the man winced. He knew his son well enough to know that he wouldn't take the news very well. But since he was partially responsible for the boy getting cursed it was his duty to tell him about the true horror of Jusenkyo and the curses, consequences be damned. "… you're not cured."

"What?" The teen shouted incredulously. "But I'm a guy again. See?" He pointed to his sensitive areas and even checked physically, and sure enough, everything was back where it belonged.

Genma shook his head. "Son, you probably don't want to hear this, but the cure is only temporary."

"WHAT!?" The pigtailed boy shouted, before narrowing his eyes and glaring at his sweating father. "What—Do—You—Mean?"

Inwardly the cursed man prayed that the boy wouldn't be too angry about the next piece of news. Oh, who was he kidding? He knew the boy would tear him a second one if he couldn't appease him.

"Erhhhm… well…" Relieved that he hadn't been hit yet, but that Ranma was all ears, the martial arts master regained some confidence and got on with his explanation. "Next time you're splashed with cold water you'll transform into a girl again. Warm water, however, will change you back into a boy."

Seeing the gaping kid just standing there and hoping to avoid a beating, he decided that an apology might be in order. Not the Crouch of the Wild Tiger, however frightening the technique may be, but a real, heartfelt apology. "I'm—I'm really sorry, son. It's my fault. If only I hadn't found the stupid brochure, all of this could have been avoided. I promise you I'll do everything in my power to find a cure. Please, don't hate me for this. You're all I have in this world."

Genma's apologetic tone managed to somewhat calm Ranma down, even if he was still visibly pissed. "I—I can't forgive you yet, pops. Maybe in time, but for now I'm just too angry. Please, just—just give me some time."

Genma then looked a the guide and seeing that he was normal again he asked. "Are you feeling better? What happened to you? You were completely out of it."

The guide was ashamed of his reaction. Seeing a beautiful girl had never affected him that much before. "I don't know. I just couldn't look away. It had felt like I was looking at the most beautiful thing in the world. It was really strange. She must have emitted some kind of lust aura or pheromones or something like that. I just couldn't take my eyes away from her body. And I've seen a lot of beautiful women who could easily rival your son's cursed form's beauty." And that was true indeed. The Amazons visited him regularly, and almost all of them were certainly beautiful enough to be models, but none could compare to the otherworldly beauty of the blonde goddess. But why? What made this girl so special? He didn't know. And he couldn't even remember where the pool had come from. He'd never heard of it before at least. He'd have to talk to the Amazon elders. They might know more.

Ranma gave the guide a nasty glare, but didn't say anything. Probably a pervert who liked to gawk at younger girls. The pigtailed martial artist was disgusted but didn't dwell on it. Finding a cure should be his top priority for the moment.

"Is there a cure?" Was Ranma's predictable question.

The guide shook his head. "Like I told your father, none that I know of. Your father mentioned one of our brochures, which is strange as they were destroyed a long time ago to keep people from coming here. I didn't even know that they were still around. The curses are explained pretty well in the brochure and I'm surprised you even came here, knowing of the curses and all. The brochure is very thorough in its explanations. I don't understand why you would willingly take the risk of getting cursed."

Genma was really feeling uncomfortable now as he really didn't want to talk about it, but there was no way around it. "Unfortunately, it's written in Chinese. The only thing I understood is that Jusenkyo is a famous training ground."

The guide was appalled at by such a level of stupidity while Ranma was banging his head against a tree. "I should have known," he said. "Another one of your stupid ideas. Couldn't you have found someone who knew Chinese to translate it for you? No, of course you couldn't. Once again your damn pride kept you from doing the sensible thing."

Genma didn't even have the nerve to look his son in the eyes. All he had said was true. He had a tendency of jumping the gun instead of thinking about the consequences. It had been like that since the beginning of the training journey and he had no idea why. Of course, afterwards he was always sorry, but that didn't keep him from making one stupid mistake after another. He just hoped that he could somehow make it up to his son.

He decided to get more information out of the guide. Even if he didn't know of a cure, he might know people who could help or who had more information about the springs. "Don't you know anyone who could help us? Someone who has dealt with curses before?"

"Well, you should talk to the Joketsuzoku, the Chinese Amazons. They have been living here for more than 3,000 years, and no one knows more about Jusenkyo than they do. I don't think they have a cure but I'm sure they could help you adjust."

Genma raised an eyebrow. "Amazons? Yeah, right. Tell me another one."

"I would listen to him if I were you, sonny boy."

The two men and one boy looked at the spot where the voice had come from and Genma but they couldn't see anyone.

"Down here!" The voice continued.

They looked down and were very surprised when they saw a short, ugly creature perched on a gnarled walking stick.

"Aaaah, a ghoul!" Shouted Ranma before said 'ghoul' whacked him on the head with its stick.

"Respect your elders, boy!" The being huffed. "Children these days. Honestly. A ghoul…? Comparing someone of my obvious beauty to a pitiful undead creature. The nerve of this boy. Ah well, he'll learn in time. I am Elder Ku Lon, matriarch of the Joketsuzoku and I'd really like to know what happened here."

**0****1****2****3****4****5****4****3****2****1****0**

"Welcome to Jusenkyo, honored elder. What can this unworthy soul do for you this day?" The guide asked while bowing reverently to the crone."

"For a start you could tell me what happened. We felt the magical discharge that originated from here up to the village. And the other elders sent me to investigate."

"Thank God for your help, elder. This will make things easier and the two customers might not have to visit the village. I'm not exactly sure how it's possible but the boy fell into an invisible spring, a spring I've never heard of before."

The old woman's eyes widened as she heard the portly man's explanation. There was only one spring that fit the bill, but it should have been impossible for anyone to fall into it since it was protected by wards and spells to keep people away.

"What does he turn into? Quickly, tell me!" The panicked woman urged the guide, hoping that she was wrong."

"He turns into a breathtakingly beautiful blonde girl," the guide confirmed the elder's fears.

"Just as I thought," she said in a resigned tone. "Could you show me the curse, please?" She asked Ranma.

Ranma was obviously annoyed at the request, but he knew that he couldn't refuse if he wanted the creature's help. He sighed as he filled a bucket with cold water and poured it over his head, making sure that there was warm water available to change back. No way would he willingly stay in that unnatural form longer than necessary. And once again the incredible transformation took place and but an instant later the blonde bombshell was back. The guide, once again, turned into a drooling wreck while Genma was completely unaffected.

Ku Lon nodded and splashed the girl with warm water, reversing the transformation.

"It is indeed as I feared. The spring of drowned veela. It's a very tragic story. A veela fell down the cliff overlooking that spring about two years ago as she was running away from a mob of wizards who were chasing her. But how can it be? A muggle shouldn't be able to even approach the spring much less fall into it."

Now, Ranma was ignorant about a lot of things, and even if he vehemently denied it to anyone who would listen he was well aware of that fact, but he was able to recognize and insult when he heard one. And this was definitely one. "Now wait a minute!" He shouted. "I don't like being insulted without reason. You take that back! I'm not one of those muggle thingies, whatever it is."

"QUIET!" The small creature hissed with such authority that the menfolk nearly pissed their pants.

But before she could continue Genma interjected, "He's not a muggle, he's a squib."

Ku Lon's eyes widened when she heard that, realizing to her consternation that they had completely overlooked the possibility of squibs taking a plunge into the spring when they warded the spring. And before the pigtailed boy had the time to open his mouth in protest at being called a squib she bopped him on the head with her cane. "Shut up and let the grown-ups speak!"

"Excuse me, honored Elder," the guide said. "But what was that about the spring being two years old? I've been a guide for a much longer than that and I can't remember the event at all."

"Of course you wouldn't," the old woman answered. "We sealed your memories of that day. The spring is much too dangerous for the knowledge of its existence to spread and so we had to make sure you wouldn't go and reveal what you knew. You won't remember, but you agreed with our reasoning. But since the boy has fallen into the pool he deserves to know what happened. I'll remove the memory blocks and then you can tell your tale since you were the only eyewitness."

Ranma wanted to know more about the curse and a possible cure, how slight the chance might be to ever find one, and before he could open his mouth and antagonize the people who might be able to help him his underused brain kicked in and told him to shut up, which he promptly did. He settled down on the floor and listened. Genma, who was well aware of the existence of magic and the differences between wizards, muggles and squibs didn't say anything, but decided that since the cat was out of the bag anyway, he might just as well tell the boy of his origins. But that could wait until the end of the guide's story.

The matriarch approached the portly Chinese man and tapped several pressure points on his head. "It is done. You should remember now."

Recognition flared inside the guide's eyes as the memories returned. He took a minute to collect his thoughts and began retelling his adventure. "It happened two years ago. I was up on the cliffs collecting firewood when I saw a group of people approaching at a fast pace. Since I didn't know who they were or if they had any hostile intentions I thought it would be prudent to keep out of their sight and so I took cover behind a bush. When they were near enough I recognized then as a group of unknown wizards shooting spells at a breathtakingly beautiful blonde woman that resembled the boy's cursed form a lot. Unfortunately for the woman the edge of the cliff denied her any means of escape, and just as the five people were about to finish her off she transformed into a hideous birdlike creature and attacked the group. She killed two of them with fireballs and eviscerated another one with her talons. But before she could finish off the two remaining wizards she was hit with a powerful stunner and a body-binding curse and fell over the cliff, drowning in the spring, much to the remaining wizards ire who had probably wanted to take her alive. The two men approached the cliff and looked down. Probably sensing the magic coming from below they didn't want to take the risk and run afoul of some unknown, but potentially dangerous magic and apparated away after collecting the remains of their associates. When it was safe to come out of hiding I ran to the village as fast as possible and alerted the elders. One of them, a witch, recognized the creature from my descriptions and deemed the spring too dangerous for anyone to fall in."

"Thank you," the matriarch interrupted, "I will explain the rest since I was there. Veela are among the most powerful magical creatures in the world and not native to Asia, so I have no idea where this particular specimen came from. We don't know much about them, since it was probably the first one to ever come to these parts, but I can give you at least some information on your alternative form. Well the little we could find in our books about magical creatures. Veela originate from Central Europe, are always female and very beautiful. Their most frightening ability is the veela charm which allows them to entrance and control people, making them loose their free will and become their obedient puppets. But that's not all. They can also transform into powerful birds of prey that have the strength of many men. Veela are also natural sorceresses with an affinity to fire. They can control fire, magical as well as natural, and generate flames that are as hot as a dragon's fire breath. A very dangerous and deadly creature if you don't know how to protect yourself from their attacks. I'm sure that you can see why we want to keep people away. The problem is that since there is no cure the boy will have to learn how to control his female form's abilities."

"Well that shouldn't be a problem, right?" Genma confidently announced. "We'll just have to avoid cold water. And if we keep an umbreally with us at all times we won't even have to be concerned with sudden rainfalls."

"Unfortunately it's not that easy," Ku Lon continued in a sad tone. "The curses are much more vicious than that since they turn their victims into water magnets. And I'm not exaggerating. Water will inevitably find them. And not even water repellant charms work. Trust me when I say that many people have tried over the centuries. Now, back to the story. Our best witches warded the pool with an invisibility charm and a muggle repellant ward. The invisibility charm does what its name suggests; it turns things, people or places invisible to the naked eye. The muggle repellant ward keeps muggles away. Whenever a muggle approaches the spring the ward urges them to go away or reminds them of other places they have to be at. Wizards wouldn't approach Jusenkyo anyway since they can feel the malevolence this area radiates. But we never took squibs into account since they aren't all that common."

Ranma was confused and couldn't make head and tail of most of what he had heard. "Muggles? Squibs? Wizards? What are you talking about?"

"He doesn't know?" The matriarch asked the bespectacled man.

This was it. The moment Genma had hoped would never come, or at least not before the boy's majority. The martial artist wanted to ease Ranma into hearing the truth of his origins by revealing the information over a long period of time, but he couldn't postpone it any longer. With a regretful tone he answered, "I wanted to keep him away from the Wizarding World. It has caused me much grief over the years and I'd have preferred to never hear of magic or have any contact with wizards and witches. The boy's mother is a witch and belongs to a very old and powerful family.

But I guess I can't hide it any longer, especially since the boy is aware of the existence of magic now and he deserves to know the truth. I just hope he won't hate me after hearing the truth. Well, I'll start with how I met your mother."

***** FLASHBACK *****

Genma Takahashi was walking through the streets of Nerima on his way to his best friend's wife's baby shower. Kimiko had given birth to their second child just a few days ago and he had been invited to celebrate the joyous event. He even put on a suit instead of one of his usual gis, since he didn't know who else had been invited and he wanted to make a good impression. No way would he be the one to stick out. It wasn't really a novelty for him since he had been present at the baby shower of Soun's eldest daughter, but he had to admit, even if it was only to himself, that he was a tad bit jealous of his friend, who had married one of the kindest people he'd ever met. He wondered if there was anyone out there for him who would bear him an heir to pass on the art to. Ah well, he was still relatively young and who knows, he might find his own special someone soon.

Not much later he was standing in front of Soun's home. The Tendo compound was the ancestral family home of the Tendo clan and by today's standards very large. Yes, his friend had it all; property that was worth a fortune, a beautiful and caring wife and two children already.

The bespectacled man knocked on the door and a short while later the Tendo patriarch himself opened the door, a large and sincere smile gracing his face, and gave his old training buddy a friendly hug.

"Genma, it's great to have you here. Come in, come in. I'm sure you're eager to see the new addition to the family. She's a little cutie and will be a heartbreaker once she's older. You should really try married life. It's worth it."

Genma grimaced. "It's not that I don't want to, but I need to find the right girl first."

"Ah, don't worry. I'm sure there's a girl waiting for you out there. You just need to be patient. But today's not the day to be gloomy, especially since the master's not here. Let's party."

"You're right, Soun. Onwards! To the baby and the sake. Oh, and before I forget, I brought a little present for the child." He took an envelope out of his pocket and gave it to his friend.

"What is it?" The Tendo patriarch asked?

"I didn't know what to buy for the baby, so I got you a coupon from a baby's clothing store. I'm sure Kimiko has already made a list of things she'll need for the kid."

"That was very thoughtful. I'm sure she'll appreciate the gesture. Well, let's go. She's in the living room with the baby and our other guests."

"Oh? Who else did you invite?" Genma wanted to know.

"Don't worry, it won't be overcrowded. Just a few neighbors and one of Kimiko's old school friends. I don't think you've met her, but she's a really refined lady. And single," he teased his friend. "You'll probably like her. Ah, we're here."

Soun coughed to get the attention of the attendees. "Everybody, I'd like you to meet my old training partner and very good friend Genma."

Everyone stood up and bowed to the new arrival, who bowed to them in return. "Nice to meet you," he greeted.

Soun introduced his guests and when Genma saw the auburn haired beauty talking to Kimiko he was immediately captivated. "And this is Kimiko's friend, Nodoka."

The young woman smiled at the bespectacled man and gave a courteous bow. "I am Nodoka Saotome. Nice to meet you."

Genma was speechless, but recovered quickly enough not to seem rude and greeted her in return.

After casually saying hello to the Tendo matriarch and tickling Nabiki, her newborn daughter, he lifted Kasumi, the couple's eldest daughter, in the air an played airplane with her for a minute before engaging Soun into some small talk about martial arts and married life, while periodically glancing at Nodoka at the same time. As the night was progressing very nicely and everyone was partaking in the various alcoholic brewages that were available, the martial artist visibly relaxed and felt less like a stranger, even talking with the Tendo's neighbors and initiating a long conversation with Nodoka, who had noticed him too. They were getting along greatly, much to Soun's and Kimiko's delight who had planned this from the start. Nodoka had always been very formal and a stickler for tradition and what was proper while Genma was a free spirit who loved his freedom. It was the hope of both the Tendos that they might have a good influence on each other. Nodoka needed to get that stick out of her ass and Genma had already reached an age where people usually considered settling down.

But they had thought about ir for a while before initiating the plan since they were not sure what Genma's reaction would be when he learnt about Nodoka's background. After all, he was a muggle while Nodoka was part of a very powerful, pureblooded clan. But that hadn't kept Soun from falling in love with his wife, muggle or not. So it was his hope that Genma would be just as lucky. Yes, he was shocked when he learnt about the Wizarding Word, but that didn't keep him from proposing to Kimiko just a few months later. So what if he was a muggle? So what if he couldn't use magic? So what if his wife would live a lot longer than he. They loved each other, and love was much more important than their social background.

And it seemed they had been right. Genma and Nodoka had been talking for the whole evening… and were getting sloshed in the process. The girl was giggling and laughing as Genma, in his best storyteller mode was talking about his adventures on the road with Soun and Happosai and some of the things he had done. And as everyone was getting along splendidly no one had noticed the pair leaving the room. Kimiko and her daughters had gone to bed while the party was still in full swing, leaving Soun and the neighbors to their own devices.

As the party was winding down Soun was looking for Genma and Nodoka, but couldn't find either of them. He searched the house until he heard some loud noises coming from the guestroom. Intrigued he opened the door and caught Nodoka and Genma going at it like rabbits. He slowly closed the door and grinned. He knew that the old dog had it in him and was really happy for his training buddy, although he hadn't thought that they would move that fast. Well, they were adults after all and knew what they were doing… or so he hoped.

He joined the party guests once again and bid them goodbye before he joined his wife in bed after giving a goodnight kiss to his daughters who were sleeping in the same room. A few moments later he was sound asleep.

The following day the whole family was rudely awoken by a pair of shouts coming from the guest room and Soun immediately got out of bed and ran as fast as he could towards the disturbance. As he neared the guestroom the shouts got louder. When he had finally arrived he saw Nodoka and Genma caught up in a shouting match of epic proportions, accusing each other taking advantage of the other by getting them drunk. The Tendo patriarch had already a serious headache from all the alcohol he had consumed the previous day, and the loud noise wasn't helping any and so it was no wonder that his patience was wearing awfully thin.

"QUIET!" He shouted, his trademarked demon head fully activated. The shouting immediately stopped as the irate woman and the furious man cowered in front of the scary apparition.

"Oh, stop it you drama queens!" ordered Kimiko who had arrived in the meantime and popped the demon head like a bubble with a knitting needle. "Why don't we sit down and talk about it like adults?"

"Yes, dear," Soun answered and the others nodded keeping as far away from each other as possibler.

They followed the Tendo matriarch to the living room and sat down on the sofa. "So Nodoka, how did this happen?" Kimiko asked.

"The rapist there got me drunk. That's what happened," she answered venomously while glaring at Genma.

"Now wait a minute!" He countered. "You got drunk on your own. I didn't force all of that alcohol down your throat. I was drunk too you know. And it was YOU who seduced me, not the contrary. We were having a nice conversation until you asked me to follow you to a more private place. I was too far gone to realize your plans."

Soun sighed. Putting the blame on one another wouldn't was completely pointless since it wouldn't change a thing. What's done is done, and the grunts and shouts of "harder" and "faster" that he had heard coming from their throats didn't really sound like the moans of people who didn't enjoy themselves. "Stop it! Obviously both of you enjoyed it immensely if the show you put on yesterday is any indication. I saw the look of ecstasy on your faces while you were riding each other to exhaustion and from my point of view it was entirely consensual. So, just drop the matter, pretend that it has never happened, and live with it."

The involuntary couple blushed. It's not like it had been their first time for either of them, but it had been embarrassing, waking up in bed with someone and not having any recollection of how it had happened."

"Erh, Nodoka?" Genma tentatively started. He had calmed down significantly and he had to admit that the sex had been great even if it had been unplanned. "How about we forget about it and never tell anybody about it? I don't want to make a big deal out of it."

The auburn haired woman nodded vehemently. "Absolutely! That would be for the best. I don't want anybody to hear of this, EVER! Is that clear?" She asked and she looked at her sex partner who was sweating profusely, not wanting to get on her bad side.

"O—Of course," he stuttered. I'll keep quiet. I promise.

"Well, then, no harm done" Kimiko interjected. Let's just forget about it and get on with our lives."

***** END FLASHBACK *****

"No harm done, indeed," Genma sarcastically told his rapt audience. "Well, shortly after that conversation we left. Both of us were embarrassed and had decided to take the knowledge of that night of passion to our graves and continue with our lives, hopefully to never see each other again."

"There's probably more to the story, or I wouldn't be here today, right pops? Why is she called Saotome? Did you marry into HER family?"

"Yes, I did. And how it came to that is another really sad story. And it happened about six to seven weeks after that fateful night at the Tendo Dojo."

***** FLASHBACK *****

Genma was busy preparing lunch in the kitchen. He was ravenous after the two hours of gruesome training he'd gone through at the hands of Master Happosai. Well, if you can call going on panty raids training. He shuddered once more as he thought back to the murderous looks the women had given him during the chase. Thank God Happosai had enough common sense to avoid Nerima since people might recognize them. Genma still cursed the day he had met the perverted master. Yes, he had become an excellent fighter under Happosai's tutelage, but he wasn't sure if all the trouble that had come with it had been really worth it. Tendo had it good. Ever since his marriage the master took it easy on him and only forced him to accompany them when his wife wasn't home. The old pervert had a healthy respect of the Tendo matriarch, much to Genma's surprise since she seemed to be rather harmless.

As he tasted the sauce he was startled by several popping sounds in the kitchen. He turned around and was surprised to see Nodoka and four men in some kind of bathrobes standing there. He had managed to put their fateful encounter out of his mind since he really didn't want to be reminded of it, but seeing the gorgeous woman standing in front, the memories came back at full speed, reminding him of every minor detail of that party, except for most of the lovemaking. He was so focused on the woman that he didn't realize the danger he was in until two of the unknown men shouted "PETRIFICUS TOTALUS" and he saw a ray of light coming out of the strange sticks they had been pointing at him sincetheir arrival.

This shook him out of his stupor, but before he could even think of reacting he was hit and falling to the floor, incapable of moving a single muscle but his eyes. Nodoka had tears in her eyes as she saw the bespectacled man's hurt look of betrayal. "Tell him!" One of the men shouted."

The crying woman slowly approached. "Genma, I'm---I'm pregnant," she announced in a solemn, albeit shaky tone.

Well, this is as good a place to stop as any. More revelations next chapter.

Next chapter: 'Flashback Part 2'.


	3. Flashback Part 2

Hi everyone. This chapter was a bitch to write and I had to rewrite it several times until I was somewhat satisfied with my work. I'd like to thank the crowd at fukufics for their help, and especially frice2000 and Spokavriel for their much appreciated input.

I'd also like to apologize for the amount of exposition in this chapter. The good news, however, is that this will be the last such chapter. The action really starts next chapter with Ranma's and Genma's arrival in Nerima.

Ryoga has his big debut in this chapter and I can't wait to see your guesses as to what he turns into in this fic. I can promise you it won't be a pig, and not a house-elf either, although that was my first idea when I came up with the idea for this story.

I think I've said enough already and I hope you'll enjoy the new chapter, especially since I put so much effort into it. If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask. I love answering questions. And don't forget to review. Reviews give me the energy I need to write.

DISCLAIMER: None of the characters belong to me. Blablabla, blablabla.

**CHAPTER 2**

_**What has gone before:**_

Genma and Ranma arrive at Jusenkyo, a supposedly legendary training ground. Not heeding the guide's warnings they spar on top of the bamboo poles sticking out of hundreds of pools. Of course they fall into the springs and end up cursed. Ranma turns into a Veela and Genma into an anthropomorphic panda girl). We learn about Ranma's past and how Nodoka, a pureblooded witch from a very prominent clan got pregnant with him. Behold the tragic conclusion of the story of Genma's past and the reasons that pushed him to take Ranma on such a long and arduous training journey.

***** FLASHBACK 2nd PART *****

Genma's lack of reaction was understandable of course, since he was still under the effect of the spell, but his bulging eyes were explicit enough. The unfortunate man was shocked of course, although he'd probably deny it if he could move, but being incapacitated and without means to lash out at his tormentors he had time to think. His brain was working in overdrive and it took only mere seconds for Genma to come to the conclusion that Nodoka being pregnant was very possible since they hadn't used any contraceptives that night. Then his eyes started to water, but it was impossible to determine whether it was of joy or sorrow, although the people who knew him well would bet on the second possibility. Genma was praying silently and he hoped that they wouldn't kill him for impregnating the girl.

One of the men slowly approached the frightened martial artist and Genma noticed the resemblance with Nodoka right away. "Genma! I am Nodoka's father, Kazu Saotome. If I lift the spell, do you promise not to run away and to listen to what we have to say? Blink twice if you agree."

After Genma had complied the stranger made a swish gesture with his wand and the martial artist was able to move again. He quickly jumped to his feet and with lightning quick reflexes knocked the wand out of the surprised man's hand before he ran to the window… only to be stopped and thrown back by some kind of invisible barrier. Several spells hit him at the same time and he was once again unable to move. Inwardly he cursed since he was sure the men wouldn't make the same mistake twice and that he'd just blown his only chance of escape. Knowing that they would be more alert now and having lost all hope he stopped resisting and prayed that whatever they had in store for him, they'd get it over with quickly.

"That really shouldn't have surprised me after all I've heard about you, Genma Takahashi." The man sneered. "Always running away from your responsibilities. Well, not this time. We came prepared and there's no way that you can get through that barrier spell. I gave you a chance; I thought we could talk about the consequences of you having you way with my little daughter like adults, but you just confirmed the information I got from people that know you: you can't be trusted. Listen, and listen well. The Saotome family NEVER lets anyone make a fool out of them. You knocked up the heiress of the clan for your cheap thrills and there's unfortunately only one possibility for us to avoid losing face. You will marry Nodoka today. And don't even think about running away from your responsibilities. We won't lift the spells incapacitating you until you're in a tuxedo and in front of the priest… with our wands pointed at you just to make sure. You might be able to dodge one or two spells coming at you, but not a whole volley. I think I made myself clear. Well then, I'd like you to meet your future family."

One by one the Saotomes introduced themselves to the incapacitated man while glaring daggers at him. It was obvious they really didn't want to have the commoner muggle become a member of their family, but they had no choice. Abortion was simply out of the question if they wanted to avoid having their honor tarnished if it ever came out. It was already bad enough that the child was conceived out of wedlock, but since the Saotomes were one of the oldest and most respected magical families in Japan and always in the spotlight of the paparazzi it was very hard if not impossible to hush up a scandal like that one, especially since Nodoka was stupid enough to curse Genma's name loud enough to be heard throughout the hospital after she received the confirmation of her pregnancy from the mediwitch. Obliviating a few people would have been possible with all the resources the Saotome family had access too, but doing the same to a whole hospital was above even their means. The only possibility they had to avoid completely losing face was to come up with a good cover story. They told their friends and other acquaintances that Nodoka had married a wealthy and important businessman, and that she'd done so in secret to avoid all the hype which is typically caused by those kinds of events. Kazu was angry with her daughter for keeping her pregnancy a secret and going to the hospital instead of confiding in her family. They could have easily swept it under the rug with no one the wiser.

"Levicorpus!" Kazu Saotome pointed his wand at a very surprised Genma, who was slowly rising in the air and felt completely weightless. He was floating upright and had a perfect view of everything that was going on around him, such as his attackers standing near the table waiting for something. Kazu joined them and the unwilling groom wondered where the old sock on the table came from. He was perplexed to see the wizards grab each. Nodoka's father grabbed the unwilling groom's leg and his daughter's hand.

"Yoshi, I'll leave it to you," he said. The wizard grabbed the sock and a few seconds later the group was gone in a flash leaving the room completely empty. A loud *pop* announced their arrival at their destination. Used to apparating the Saotome family members looked completely unfazed, which was definitely not the case for Genma. The martial artist had turned an unhealthy shade of green and looked quite sick and he'd probably have thrown up already if he weren't completely paralyzed.

Mr. Saotome cancelled the levitation spell and as gravity affected Genma once again the unfortunate martial artist fell to the floor flat on his face. A little bit dazed he got up and froze when he saw the wands pointed at him once again.

"As you can see," Nodoka's father continued, "you're completely surrounded and have no chance to escape. Welcome to the Saotome manor, one of the most heavily warded locations in Japan. Only members of the Saotome clan are keyed into the protections of this place and traveling the grounds alone, unaccompanied by a member of the clan can be deadly. So don't try anything stupid if you value your life. Personally I don't care what happens to you, but it would reflect badly on the clan should you die before you're officially married to my little sunshine. Consider it an honor to become part of one of the most prominent magical clans in Japan, even if you're only a muggle."

Before the young martial artist could protest he was roughly pushed through the door by Mr. Saotome and his entourage and led to another room a few doors away. Nodoka was being led away by two women who had been waiting in the room for their arrival. The young martial artist was pushed into the new room and was astonished by what he saw; a mannequin wearing a very expensive and high quality wedding hakama and accessories. "Surprised?" The older man smirked at Genma's bewildered look. "Don't be. With time you will come to learn that I hate inefficiency. I started preparations as soon as I was made aware of my daughter's pregnancy. No Saotome child will ever be born out of wedlock."

"Jiro! Akira! Nobu! You three stay here with the groom until he's ready. Always keep your wands aimed at him. He's a tricky one and I wouldn't put it past him to use every trick he knows to get away. I need to talk with the priest."

As he was walking away he gave the unwilling groom one last piece of advice. "Don't try anything stupid, Genma. You have no idea how powerful the Saotomes are and what means we have at our disposal."

The icy tone in which the message was delivered chilled Genma to the bones and he realized that the powerful man didn't make empty threats and was quite willing to resort to force as his abduction has proven. Recognizing how hopeless his situation really was he decided to just get it over with and go through with the stupid ceremony.

After Nodoka's father had left the three men who were to guard Genma led him into the adjacent bathroom at wandpoint where he was forced to take a bath and shave, much to the martial artist's outrage, as he hated being told what to do. He obeyed however since he was quite sure his guards wouldn't hesitate to take some drastic measures against him if he didn't comply. After tha martial artist Had finished in the bathroom two female servants entered and helped him into the formal wedding garb. All of this had taken no more than twenty minutes and soon Genma was ready to get hitched, or as he preferred to think, ready to face his doom.

They guided him to a waiting room where he was told to wait until everything was ready for the ceremony. After about an hour he saw Kazu Saotome come back dressed to the nines.

"The preparations are done. Follow me."

***** END FLASHBACK *****

"There's not much to tell about the wedding ceremony proper as nothing out of the ordinary happened at all, except for the wands that were pointed at me, of course."

"Wizards and witches?" Magic? You really want me to believe that? You've come up with a lot of lame stories over the years but this one probably takes the cake. If…"

Before he could continue his rant he was interrupted by the elder. "What other explanation do you have for the Jusenkyo curses then?" She interjected. "They should be proof enough that magic is very real and all around us. There are many things in this world you haven't seen yet. Does that mean they don't exist? No, it doesn't. Wizards are a very secretive folk and are masters at hiding their world from the muggles. Don't dismiss your father's story so easily. From what I know about purebloods it's quite possible that this is what really happened."

That made him pause. He considered the old woman's words for a few moments and decided that she had a point. The curse was real and that meant that magic had to be real too. Still, that didn't mean that his father's story was true. He'd lied so much over the years to save his hide, but the old man had never sounded this convincing. He usually was a really bad liar and he would never be able to come up with something this convincing on the fly. Ranma still had his doubts, and he really needed more information before he could either accept or dismiss the story. He looked at his father. "If that is true, then why didn't you tell me before? You probably thought it funny to make me think my mother was dead and that I had no family left? This is really low. And here I thought you couldn't sink any lower. You know I've always wanted a family. All these years… All these years I've had relatives and never knew about it... Well, as soon as I get rid of the damn curse I'll visit mom. Suck on that, old man. I don't give a damn about your problems with mom and gramps. Nothing you say will change my mind."

"I'm sorry but you can't." Genma countered, giving his son a sorrowful look. "Just let me finish my story and you'll understand why. I had a very good reason for taking you away from those bastards." He took a deep breath figuring out how to continue. It was a painful memory and it would probably devastate the poor boy who had so many problems to deal with already.

"I've told you about the marriage, right? Well, to sum it up, it was hell. My in-laws resented me for 'defiling' their daughter and the whole family reminded me of that fact almost every day. Your mother didn't even acknowledge my presence at all and I was confined to a small house on the estate and shunned by everyone except for some servants. I felt like an outcast and the servants were the only people I had contact with. I have to admit that I got almost everything I wanted except for the thing I wanted most, my freedom. I was only ever allowed to leave the estate when I had to accompany my 'wife' to some dinners or other social gatherings. I think that I hated having to pretend that Nodoka and I were a happy and loving couple even more than being a prisoner.

Things changed after you were born, though. Everyone was happy to see the next heir to the family even if his father was a muggle. Your mother fell immediately in love with you and doted on you all the time. Our relationship even improved to the point that we were talking to each other again and my in-laws allowed us to live together. From one day to the to the next it seemed that the rift between us had never existed and I didn't resent the forced marriage all that much any longer after I saw how much your mother cared for you. She was once again the spirited girl I met back in Nerima all those months ago."

"Well, everything's fine then," Ranma interjected. "I don't see any reason for you to keep me away from them."

"I wish it were that easy," the cursed man continued. "Unfortunately, like so often, good things don't last for long. All was fine for the first three years of your life, but slowly our relationship degraded once again when it became more and more obvious that you didn't have any magic at all."

From Ranma's blank stare he deduced that he needed to be more explicit.

"Ok. Let me explain that a little bit. Magical children tend to use accidental magic whenever they are startled or in danger. It's a natural reflex that protects them from harm. This is the most common way to see if a child is talented or not. Wizards have some very strange ideas and some go so far as to put their children in danger just to have them use accidental magic. Naturally, my in-laws were insane enough to try the same. Sometimes I even had to laugh at the ideas they came up with to frighten you into using your magic. Unfortunately, it didn't work and after several months they had given up hope and pretty much abandoned you to my care. Nodoka's reaction hurt me the most. While she had spent a lot of time with you when you were little she grew cold over time after she began to realize that you were probably a squib. In the end she couldn't even stand to be in your presence any more. "

"WHAT?" Ranma interrupted the story in a violent outburst. "Are you bullshitting me? NO WAY is that true. You're full of it, old man. Are you seriously telling me my mom and grandparents would reject me for such a stupid reason?"

"Let me finish," Genma hissed. "You don't know anything about the Wizarding World and what purebloods are like. Everything I've told you is the truth."

"Oh yeah? That would be a first. No, seriously now. Tell me the real story or do I have to beat it out of you?"

"QUIET" Cologne ordered as she let loose a very impressive battle aura, calming down the two martial artists who were shaking in their pants. "Now then, let's discuss this like civilized people."

Satisfied that there wouldn't be any further outbursts she dimmed her aura until it disappeared completely once again. "That's better." She looked at the teen. "Well, I think your father has told the truth, Ranma.," Cologne added her two cents. "I've met a lot of accomplished liars in my life, but I usually see through them very easily. Mr. Saotome hasn't lied once throughout the story.."

Now that the elder's aura was gone Ranma got back some of his confidence. "Oh really? Shows how well you know him. Old age must have affected your senses if you really believe him."

"Ouch!" Ranma complained after the old woman violently rapped him on the head with her stick.

"Insolent brat! That's the problem with the young people nowadays; they always think they know better than their elders. I'm over 300 and believe me when I tell you that I've seen it all. You're still young and have yet to realize the lows a human being can sink to. I've met a lot of purebloods in my long life and I can assure you that such behavior is not all that unusual. Besides, why should I lie to you? I have nothing to gain by doing that."

That last statement made the pigtailed teen think. Indeed, why SHOULD she lie to him? This made Ranma feel really uncomfortable. What if his father HAD told the truth? What if he really had been abandoned by his family? No, best not to go there; one problem at a time.

"I see you're not convinced. How about this then? Once we are in the village we'll have your father confirm his story under Veritaserum, only if he agrees of course?"

"Veriwhat?" the teen wanted to know.

"Ve-ri-ta-se-rum. A very powerful truth serum," Cologne answered. "Are you willing to do it, Mr. Saotome?"

"I am," the portly man answered firmly, and there was not a hint of doubt in his eyes.

Seeing his father agree so firmly, and without any doubt really rattled the boy and made him rethink his earlier stance. His father had never been so convincing before and he had the sinking feeling that there might be some truth to the story after all.

As the sometimes panda saw the state of his son he felt sorry for him. It was much too soon for him to learn the truth as the boy lacked the maturity to digest the ugly truth, but after the accident at Jusenkyo there was no way for him to hide his past any longer.

"I know how you feel," the middle-aged man tried to raise Ranma's spirits. "Rejection is always hard to deal with. Let me finish my story before you ask any questions. As you can probably imagine I haven't had a good opinion of the Wizarding World ever since I was coerced into this farce of a marriage and this made me really hate the Saotomes and their bigotry. You must know that squibs are outcasts and never get any fair chance to land a good job; they are the burakumin of the Wizarding World. This is even worse if it is a prominent family who gives birth to a squib. Since you didn't have any future in their world I decided to take you away and teach you the only thing I was good at: martial arts. I thought that it would give you at least some skills you could put to use later on and live a decent life with normal people. Much to my surprise I was given the permission to leave with you. They probably figured it would be easier to cover up your condition if you weren't there. The official reason they gave to explain our absence was that we went abroad to get you some specialized magical training."

Ranma looked at his father in awe. He'd always known that the bespectacled man was a great martial artist, but he hadn't had much respect for him outside of the art due to his cowardly nature and dishonesty. This new information, however, put him into a very different light, and it warmed his heart to learn that his father really loved him and that he wasn't just a meal ticket for him.

But if he had been so wrong about his father, then maybe Genma had been wrong about his in-laws. Hope flared up in his heart. "Are things really that bad?" He tentatively asked. "What if they've changed and regret what they've done? Maybe we can visit them and see how things are going. What is the worst they can do? Throw us out?"

The bespectacled man sighed. He hated himself for having to kill his son's last hopes, but unfortunately there was no way around it. "Impossible!" He assured with sadness in his eyes. "Do you remember what I told you earlier? That they are bigots? Like most other pure-blood wizarding families the Saotomes are xenophobic and avoid having to deal with magical creatures whenever possible. It simply is beneath them. And even if I have never heard of Veela before I'm sure they qualify as magical creatures."

Before Ranma could get a word in edgewise Cologne had already continued where his father had stopped and he immediately refrained from saying anything as his head was still smarting from the blow he'd received earlier and he didn't want to have a repeat performance. "Your father is correct," she confirmed. "Veela are indeed classified as magical creatures. Due to their great strength, control over fire, and charming powers they are often feared and even actively hunted in some countries for either the bounties on their heads, potion ingredients or for selling them into prostitution. I believe that the Japanese Wizarding Government is rather progressive about the issue, at least compared to a lot of other countries and even has issued some laws pertaining to their protection and even granted them some basic civil rights… well, on paper at least. In reality wizards are afraid of things they don't understand or that are different from them, which include magical creatures, making it almost impossible for them to find a job. Squibs have it easier since they are human and can simply go to the Muggle World to find work. Because of their inhuman nature and often look magical creatures have trouble blending in. Wizarding Communities throughout the world continually try their hardest to hide their world from the eyes of muggles and that includes magical creatures. Oh, and before you ask, 'muggle' is the word wizards use for normal people with no magical background and 'squib' is the word for descendants of wizards who can't use magic."

Ranma couldn't believe his ears. While he had been angry before he was now ready to explode. "DAMMIT, POPS!" the young martial artist verbally lashed out at his father. "What the hell were you thinking bringing us here?" He mockingly shook his head. "How silly of me; of course you haven't been thinking. Would have been a first." He venomously looked at the recipient of his anger. "You REALLY have the knack of royally screwing up and making a bad situation worse." And just as the pigtailed boy was about to strangle the life out of the idiot he did something so unexpected and astonishing that his son had completely forgot to kill him: the part-time panda kneeled in front of Ranma and lowered his head to the ground.

"Please forgive me, son. I never wanted this to happen. I don't know why I even chose to come here. It just seemed like a good idea at the time. I can't help it; my brain somehow short-circuits whenever I hear about a new training ground or an unbeatable technique. It's like my brain is compelling me to try out every insane technique I can get my hands on. I'm still ashamed for trying to teach you the nekoken. I promise you that I won't rest until I've found a cure for your curse."

The astonished teen was speechless. He had seen his father use the Crouch of the Wild Tiger ™ more than once, but unlike that pathetic, stupid, and hypocritical technique this was an honest-to-God apology.

The elder's eyes widened when she heard the elder Saotome mentioned the nekoken, but chose not to comment on it since it really wasn't a priority at the moment. There was another statement that worried her a lot more and she really had to get to the bottom of it. "Excuse me," she interrupted the apologetic man. "Did you say compulsion?"

"Yes," he confirmed and lifted his head. "I don't really understand why, but whenever I find a martial arts scroll or a training manual a seductive voice seems to short-circuit my common sense and I can't resist the lure to teach them to my son as fast as possible."

"Hmmm…" the elder paced up and down and thought about the implications of that statement. She had a very good idea of what must have happened, but she needed to take the pair to the village to confirm her suspicions. "Did anything unusual happen before you left on the training journey? Anything out of the ordinary?"

Genma thought intensely about it for a while and even if it had been a long time ago he could still remember the day very clearly. There was one thing that really stood out that day but he was not sure if it was important. Still, the old woman asked him for anything out of the ordinary and this was the only thing that came to mind. "There was something unusual indeed, but I don't know if it's relevant. Shortly before I left my father-in-law asked me to join him in his study, which surprised me since he usually didn't even acknowledge my presence. After that things get a little fuzzy. I remember joining him in the room but nothing about the conversation we've had. At the end he patted me on the shoulder and wished me luck on my journey. That was really strange coming from him, but I didn't dwell on it."

"I see," Cologne said. "Are you absolutely sure that you can't remember the discussion at all? Not even the smallest bit?"

"Sorry, but that's all I can tell you. There seems to be a gap in my memories concerning that particular event and now that you mention it, it's true that it's really strange. I wonder why it has never come to my mind before. Do you think he might have done something to me?"

"I wouldn't be surprised from what you've told about him so far. My guess is that he has removed the memory from your mind and probably added a small compulsion to keep you from ever thinking back to that conversation," she told the martial artist, "but you'll have to come with me to the village for confirmation as I don't have the means to verify my theory with me. I suspect that your father-in-law subjected you to the Confundus Charm, a very nasty spell that's not as bad as the three unforgivable curses, but it's still illegal to cast it on another human being. The Confundus Charm befuddles the mind and allows the caster to implant some insidious ideas or concepts into the victim's mind. In your case probably something directing you to try more and more insane techniques. There's only one reason I can think of as to why he would have done something so despicable. He probably hoped you'd try something so stupid that it would kill the boy. If they are really as bad as you make them out to be it's something that would be right up their alley. They wouldn't even need to get their hands dirty. I don't think there's any viler act than trying to murder one's own family."

"Oh come on now!" an incredulous Ranma exclaimed not believing a word of what he had just heard. "Next you'll tell me they eat children and kick puppies for fun." Wondering about the lack of reaction he turned towards his father and was quite surprised to see him deep in thought. The old man really seemed to believe the elder's explanation, outlandish as it may have been.

"Hey, pops," he tried to get his father's attention. "Don't tell me you believe that bull." The bespectacled man didn't react at all. "Hello? Earth to moron."

"Quiet, boy!" He absentmindedly hit his son on the head, his brain cataloguing, processing, and analyzing all the new information he got, a horrible as it might be.

Ranma rubbed his head and waited for his father to finish; he'd rarely seen him so serious.

"You don't know what they're like," he explained after a while. "I wouldn't put it past them to do something like that. You haven't lived there for as long as I have." He grabbed his son by the shoulders and looked him right in the eyes. "You have no idea what life with them was like. So don't act like you know everything." He shuddered. "Those spells really exist. I know; I've read about them in some of their books. You don't know what those bastards are capable of. When I think back to all the things they did to get you to use accidental magic," he was getting hysterical. "Do you want to know what they did? Do you?"

Ranma was fascinated and horrified by the state his father was in. He obviously was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

The older Saotome continued, not looking at anyone, all those repressed memories coming back to him. "They… locked you into a cupboard for a few hours. They threw you into a cannel with savage dogs. They threw you out of a window from the fourth floor. There was more, but I really don't want to talk about it. Now tell me, son, would you put it past people like that to use those spells on me?" He looked at the floor and continued in a repentant tone, thinking back to some of the biggest mistakes he's made over the last years. "I… I know I've done bad things to you in the name of training, but I never wanted to hurt you. I… I always felt really bad afterwards. Each and every time I was horrified by my own acts. And now… the elder's suspicions… all of it would explain so much."

The haunted look in his father's eyes had really shaken the young martial artist up. He'd never seen him so frantic in all of the time they'd traveled together. Yet, he couldn't believe it; or rather he didn't want to believe it. If it were true… no, he really didn't want to think about it. He violently shook his head in denial and was about to bolt as the sight of his father in such a sorry state had really unnerved him and he didn't want to be witness to that any longer.

Before he could run away Cologne tripped him with her stick and he heavily fell to the ground face first

"What did you do that for?" He jumped up and yelled at the elder.

"That's what I should ask you. What were you thinking? "Do you honestly believe that running away will solve anything? You're a fool and a coward."

"I am not a coward!" Ranma countered angrily and the elder hid a smile. He had reacted exactly like she'd expected. She was certain that anger was much better in this situation than depression.

"Oh, really?" She taunted. "What else do you call someone who runs at the first sign of trouble? A hero? I don't think so. A real martial artist would face his problems like a man, but what do I see in front of me? A little boy who is too afraid to face the truth."

"You take that back!" He attacked the old woman, but she countered the clumsy attack without even looking at her opponent and threw him to the ground. This continued for a while, but Ranma never even came close to tagging his opponent. A few minutes later he lay in the dirt, completely exhausted."

"Are you quite finished?" She asked him with a hint of concern in her voice. "You know, sometimes letting it all out is the best solution."

Much to Ranma's surprise he was indeed feeling a little better, or at least he could once again think rationally.

"I can see that you are still in denial and need some proof. There's nothing more we can do here. Just forget about your family for the moment, calm down, and once in the village it will be easy to get to the bottom of this. Is that okay with you?

The young martial artist nodded. He'd give her the benefit of the doubt… for the moment. If there really was a way for him to learn the truth inside the village he could wait that long, and if the matriarch's suspicions were confirmed… well, he'd still have time to think about his next step afterwards.

Genma had watched the one-sided match and realized that he couldn't let himself fall into depression. He owed his son that much at least… and a lot more. His son needed him now more than ever. At least he had now the confirmation that removing Ranma from his family's clutches was the right thing to do. He was sure that Ranma would get over it. The boy was a survivor and this was just another stepping stone on the way to adulthood and martial arts mastery. No wizard would hurt him or his son ever again. He had trained the boy over the years well enough to be sure that no wizard had a chance against the young martial artist. After all, while he didn't neglect any aspects of the art he had put emphasis on Ranma's speed and intuition, turning him into the perfect weapon against wizards. What good is a wand if you can't hit your target? Additionally, he had sharpened the boy's senses to such an extent that he could unconsciously evade any attack, even in his sleep.

He'd never seen anyone as talented in the art as his son. There wasn't really all that much left to teach his son, except for the forbidden techniques, but those moves were much too dangerous to teach to someone who wouldn't use them responsibly. The next few days would decide if the boy was ready or not; it all depended on how he'd deal with the heavy emotional blow he'd just received. However, this latest treachery by his in-laws confirmed his intention to teach the boy everything he'd ever need to survive. The senkens would be quite an ace against his enemies, especially if the Saotomes should target his son directly. After all, he had developed them specifically as a weapon to use against wizards.

"I suggest we leave for my village. It's already late and I don't want to miss the end of the annual tournament. Are you coming?" She asked the two foreigners. She then turned towards the guide who had been silently listening to the conversation. "Thank you for your help, guide. You've been a great help and I will see to it that you're rewarded for your hard work."

"I was just doing my job. Too bad they never listen. Well, I wish you luck and hope that you'll find a cure to your curses, although I doubt it. Take care."

They thanked the guide for his help and followed Cologne out of the valley. Very soon Genma and Ranma involuntarily figured out one of the most annoying things about Jusenkyo curses: they are very easy to trigger since a little bit of cold water was more than enough for them to activate. As they were entering the woods on the right side of the cliffs surrounding Jusenkyo they were drenched by a sudden localized downpour that only lasted for a few seconds but was enough to trigger their curses.

"Ah yes, that tends to happen a lot to cursed people. The curse magic seems to have a strange sense of humor as water seems to be drawn to its victims. I should have warned you before," Cologne apologized. "People who fight the curse have it hardest since not a day goes by without at least one water related accident. It can be very annoying I've been told. That's why it's called a curse I suppose."

"Now you tell us," the young Veela grumbled as she was removing her gi top to wring it out while continuing to walk. She was startled out of this occupation by the loud noises caused by something tramping through the surrounding woods, something that was approaching the group's position at a fast speed, toppling trees and frightening the wildlife as it approached. She hurried to put her clothes back on, but before she was finished the creature had cleared the woods and entered the small clearing they'd been walking through. As it turned out the creature in question was a rugged, strong looking human male wearing an orange shirt, black pants, and a black-spotted yellow bandana and carrying a huge backpack.

"WHERE THE HELL AM I NOW?" The pissed off boy shouted in an angry tone while continuing on his way straight ahead without even checking the surroundings.

The sudden appearance of the boy had startled Ranma to such an extent that she had completely forgotten to close her gi top, leaving her unrestrained breasts move about freely for all to see and especially drawing the eyes of the stranger to their fullness and perfect form, probably aided by the strong allure the girl was emitting. The wanderer was so entranced by the beautiful angel in front of him that he continued straight ahead without paying attention to his surroundings, his mind working to full capacity at memorizing the features of this heavenly apparition he had immediately fallen in love with. Very soon he had disappeared back into the woods, his eyes glued to the bare breasted beauty until he couldn't see her anymore. As his mind was otherwise occupied it couldn't warn the wandering martial artist of the danger that lay ahead and so it came that he ran straight ahead towards the cliff and fell into the valley below. He only came out of his dream world when he landed in the cold water below.

The band of travelers blinked, once, twice, and looked at the path of destruction the boy had left in his wake before simply shrugging their shoulders in indifference and resuming their trek. They had seen stranger after all. Although the funny scene had distracted the group Genma had the presence of mind to remind her daughter of her indecent state. She looked down and blushed at her blunder and very quickly closed her gi top hoping that she could avoid another awkward situation like that in the future. Very quickly she forgot the incident as she was having an interesting conversation with the Amazon elder and inquiring about some of the finer points of magic and to get some more information about the Wizarding World. She got a lot of interesting information and found the idea of using magic very intriguing. Her father, much to her surprise, even urged her to learn as much as she could if she was able to. It could only benefit her martial arts in the long run and make her an even more unpredictable fighter.

"Do you really think I can learn magic?" She asked the matriarch.

"I don't know," Cologne answered. "Sorcery at least shouldn't be a problem. I've told you before that Veela are natural sorceresses with an affinity for fire if you remember. I can't say for sure if you'll be able to use wand magic; we'll have to test you in the village."

"I'm still not sure if I really want to learn it though. Magic is the cause of most of my problems. Without magic I would have a family and wouldn't be cursed."

"Ah, but you shouldn't look at it that way. Nothing in this world is black and white. Take the wizards for example. They always classify everything as either dark or light, be it magic, people, or magical creatures. I think that's a misconception. There is not really any light or dark magic; it all depends on the intentions of the person using a spell. Take the levitation charm for example. It allows you to lift objects without touching them. Now imagine someone lifting a large rock and levitating it over someone's head and let it fall. It's one of the easiest spells to learn, yet it can be deadly if used with the intention to harm; not unlike the martial arts. They too can be used to protect, but just as well to kill. Here's another way to look at it. If you learn wand magic you'll have an easier time fighting against it since you'll know how it works and what to expect."

The young girl had to admit that the elder was right, in every point. It made sense after all. Didn't Sun Tzu himself say 'Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a thousand battles without disaster'? Another thing had been bothering her and she really wanted to get to the bottom of it. "I've been wondering," she asked the matriarch. "You talk about muggles and squibs all the time and explained the meaning of the words, but I have no clue where they come from. They don't sound like Japanese to me. How come?"

"That's easy to answer," the elder explained. "Wand magic originates from Europe; from Great Britain to be more precise. English has been established as the official language of the Wizarding World. That's why in most countries young wizards are taught English at school."

Cologne noticed that the young girl listened very intently to her explanations and since they still had a ways to go she decided that teaching her the basics about the Magical World would be educational and a nice way to pass time. "One important fact you have to know about wizards, and pure-bloods especially," she continued. "They are very set in their ways. Wizards haven't changed much over the last few centuries and usually don't mingle with muggles. Most of them are unaware of the technological advances of the Muggle World and have never seen a television or even a phone. Basically, they think that muggles are uncultured and beneath them. Their reasoning always seems to be 'why change something that works?' This is true for almost every country. They don't even realize that the muggles outnumber them and could easily destroy their world with modern weaponry.

She shook her head at the stupidity of it all. "Most don't remember or choose to forget that wand magic is a rather young discipline in Asia. In fact, it first appeared in the late 1500s brought over by a few hundred English refugees who had settled down in China after they'd fled the persecution of a dark lord who was very active in England at that time. It didn't take very long for some of the families to explore the relatively unknown continent and teach their ways and magic to the locals. Since wand magic is much easier to learn than other, older magic arts like voodoo, sorcery, shamanism, necromancy, or druidism and much more versatile a lot of mages have abandoned tradition and embraced wizardry. Over the last few centuries the number of practitioners has been steadily declining to such an extent that I predict in the next two centuries most of those disciplines will die out. It's sad but there is not much we can do about it. At least in my village we try to keep the old traditions alive while not neglecting innovation as our very talented witches can attest. Wizardry has spread so fast because even magically weak people can learn it, their wands helping them channel their magic, as low as it may be. That's also the wizards' major weakness. Take away their wands and they are pretty much defenseless, unless they can cast wandless magic, but only a few of the most powerful wizards are able to do that. That's why I really urge you to develop your sorcery skills. It will be an additional weapon in your arsenal; a weapon most wizards will be helpless against and that they can't take away from you."

"You got a point there," the young sorceress agreed. "IF I can learn how to use magic it would be stupid not to learn it. And if it doesn't work, no big loss. I'll still have martial arts."

Genma had been listening to the whole conversation, but hadn't said anything so far. She too agreed with the old woman. She might not like magic in general, but that was more because of some of the wizards she knew rather than because of the magic itself, but that was not a good enough reason for Ranma not to embrace his heritage and show the Wizarding World that he was much better than those stuck-up bastards. And wouldn't it be ironic if he could defeat the people who shunned him in their own discipline? Well, as long as he didn't neglect his martial arts training of course.

There was no more talking for the rest of the way to the village as the two foreigners had much to think about. Cologne just led the way and left them to their thoughts.

When the village became visible to the naked eye Cologne slowed down. "Wait! Before we enter I need to give you some very important information. First of all, the most important rule: don't do anything stupid! We are a very proud people and easily take offence. Just as important: don't run afoul of the outsider rules." She looked at Ranma specifically when she said that. "Because of them you should avoid answering any challenges in both of your forms or you could be subjected to either the kiss of marriage or the kiss of death. Basically, the rules say this: whenever a male outsider defeats a Joketsuzoku warrior, she must give him the kiss of marriage and they automatically become husband and wife; however, if a female outsider defeats a Joketsuzoku warrior she is given the kiss of death and the defeated Joketsuzoku must chase her to the ends of earth until one of them is dead. If you really want to test your strength against our fighters you should set terms before the fight and specify that it's just a friendly fight. Is that understood?"

The Veela nodded and the elder, sure that she got her point across, bid them to follow her. As they approached the gates they heard a lot of noise coming out of the village and as they got nearer they were able to identify the racket as being shouts and cheers.

"What's that noise?" Ranma wondered.

"The great festival," Cologne explained as they were walking. "Every year we hold a martial arts tournament where the youngsters can show off their fighting skills. The champion will gain fame and prestige as well as earn a lot of privileges until the next tournament where the champion either confirms her position by winning again or loses it to a stronger warrior who the becomes the new champion. Afterwards there is a big celebration that lasts all night long with a large spread of dishes, wine and other spirits, and not to forget music and dancing as well as some friendly or sometimes even less friendly sparring matches. My granddaughter is participating this year for the first time and has a very good chance of winning. I'm glad it isn't over yet; I want to see how she handles herself in a fight against more experienced opponents, I prepared her as well as I could after all, and I would be disappointed if she didn't make a good showing."

Very soon they approached the entrance and nodding to the two sentries the elder led her guests into the village. Ranma was feeling uncomfortable when she noticed the scathing looks the guards were giving her. The matriarch noticed them too and as soon as the group was past the guards she stopped the two foreigners. "Wait here. I'll go and get some warm water to change you back or else you'll receive a lot more of those stares."

"Why are they staring at me like that? I didn't do anything to them."

"That's true, but it's an instinctual reaction women have towards Veela. You don't realize yet how powerful your charm is and the effect it has on other people. Basically, the guards are jealous of your beauty. It's not your fault, nor is it theirs. They just don't realize that their reactions are caused by your Veela charm, but they instinctually believe that you're a dangerous predator who might take away their mates. So don't be surprised to see women show your female form a lot of animosity. Men on the other hand will lust after you and some will do anything to make you theirs. I remember having read in a book once that in the past more than one duel or family feud has been initiated by men who were attracted to the same Veela. Until you learn how to control the charm this will be the standard reaction you'll get. The only people immune to your aura are family members or people who are deeply in love with someone else. Homosexuals are an exception since their reactions will be reversed. That's why you must learn to control your powers or will never be able to live a normal life… in either the Muggle or the Wizarding Worlds. Unfortunately, only another Veela will be able to teach you with that, so you'll have to find one that's willing to help. I can't help you there since I have never met any."

"I know some people who might be able to help," Genma interrupted. "My old training partner, Soun Tendo, also married a witch and he works part-time for the Japanese magical government. I'm sure he'll be able to help. I was planning to have you meet him after our trip to China anyway, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem."

"That's good news and one less problem we'll have to deal with. For now stay put; I'll be back in a few moments," the elder pogoed away and into the first house she saw. She came back with a bucket filled with hot water and poured it over the two females' heads returning them to their birth form.

"That's better." Ranma was relieved to be male once more. It would take time to get used to his alternate form, especially with the weird powers that came with it.

Genma was relieved too. His curse was probably not as bad as his son's, but he could really have done without, especially since his cursed form looked so cute. He shuddered at the thought of people seeing him like that.

They toweled themselves off and followed the old woman through the deserted streets and towards the place where the commotion was coming from. As they approached they could hear the cheers the large audience was giving the contestants who were dishing it out on top of a horizontal log suspended in the air by some sturdy ropes more clearly. The whole village was present and some watchers were betting on the outcome of the fights. Ranma concentrated on the fight and had to admit that the girls weren't half bad. One of them was an average sized, cute brunette who was using a short sword and the other one was very large and butch, with a bodybuilder's body and who looked more like a bad cross dresser than a girl. She wielded a tetsubo and was clearly dominating the fight with her overly aggressive style. The smaller fighter was constantly on the defensive and had a very difficult time blocking her opponent's powerful strikes. The girls were not in his league of course, but he had to admit that they knew how to handle themselves in a fight.

"We got here just in time," the matriarch told her guests who were following the fight with great interest. "I've been told that this is the last semifinal and as I expected my great-granddaughter has made it all the way into the finals. Look over there. That's her; the girl with the lavender-colored hair. She's my pride and joy, the best warrior of her generation in our village. I know she'll win."

The fight was over very soon as the small fighter couldn't keep up with the giant's onslaught of powerful strikes and was launched off the log.

"Well, that's that," Cologne stated. "There'll be a five minute break before the final match. I'm going to check on Shampoo to see how she's feeling. I'm sure she'll be relieved now that I'm back. If you like you can come with me and meet her."

"How come only the girls are fighting? What about the boys?" Ranma saw a lot of boys and men among the crowd, but none of them looked like they had been in a fight. He noticed several heavily bruised or wounded Amazons, but all of them were girls.

"Simple," the elder explained. "They aren't allowed to participate. This is a women's only tournament. One thing you mustn't forget is that we are a matriarchal society. The men have no say in the political workings of the village. That's why their own tournament which will take place in a few days is not really important, unlike the women's tournament, where the champion will be able to participate in the political life of the village. You should treat every woman here with the utmost respect if you want to avoid any trouble. I know this must seem barbaric to you but that's how it's been since the creation of our society and the system has worked well for us so far. I can assure you that our men are treated a lot better than Japanese women used to be until a few decades ago."

Very soon they'd reached the throng of people that had surrounded the young finalist and which was congratulating her for her good showing so far. When the fans saw the elder approach they opened a passage and let her through.

"Great-grandmother!" The lavender-haired girl shouted in glee and gave the elder a firm hug. "I'm glad you came back in time to see my triumph. I made it all the way to the finals just like I promised. Everyone will see that you're the best trainer in the village and that our bloodline is still as strong as ever. I can't wait to see Lan-Fen's reaction after I humiliate her apprentice. She'll never again insult our family and your training methods."

"You may be right. However, don't let your anger cloud your mind. Underestimating an enemy, especially one trained by Lan-Fen is never a good strategy. Don't get too cocky or might get a very nasty surprise."

The reprimand had the desired effect since Shampoo calmed down at once. "You are right. Please excuse my outburst just now." She then noticed the two males standing behind her great-grandmother and who were waiting for something. "Who are the strangers?" She asked rudely and even if Ranma couldn't understand Chinese he was able to detect the disrespectful tone in her voice as she was staring at them.

"They are honored guests," Cologne hissed at the teenager, "and the reason why I had to leave for Jusenkyo. I want you to be on your best behavior. They haven't done anything to warrant such disrespect." She then continued in a more civil tone. "Do you know where I can find Yip Dongmei? I haven't seen her in the crowd and I need to talk to her about a matter of the utmost importance."

"I Think I've seen her with Chen Huifang's group before the last fight. No idea where she is now."

The old woman nodded and made a come-hither sign to a nearby middle-aged woman. "Jia, please fetch Yip Dongmei. I have need of her 'special' skills."

She nodded and very soon came back with a very old woman, barely taller than Cologne and who had a strange aura around her. "Ah, Dongmei. Just the elder I've been looking for. Could you please cast a translation spell at the two foreigners? They don't speak our language and it's very important they understand everything that's going on. I'd like to avoid any unnecessary complications."

She then turned to the two martial artists who hadn't understood a single a word of the conversation. "Don't move! I asked Dongmei to cast a translation spell so that you can blend in and avoid any potential dangerous situations. The effect only lasts for a few hours so it will have to be reapplied regularly. Don't be afraid, she knows what she's doing. She's been an accomplished witch for more than 150 years."

The now named elder nodded, rolled up the left sleeve of her blouse and retrieved an ornate stick from the holster attached to her left arm. She flicked the piece of wood in a strange pattern and shouted something unintelligible as she was pointing the stick at the jittery foreigners. A blue beam shot out of the stick and honed in on the pigtailed outsider hitting him in the chest. She immediately repeated the procedure with a fidgeting Genma. He knew he needn't be afraid of the old woman, but his mistrust in magic users in general was not easy to overcome.

"Can you understand me?" Cologne asked the two in Chinese.

"Yeah. This is one hell of a useful spell. If I can learn stuff like this, studying magic might be fun," Ranma grinned, very happy at the prospect of learning something new and potentially useful for later.

"Not so fast!" the elder curbed the teen's enthusiasm. "We'll have to test you first. We'll do that once the tournament is over. For now just enjoy yourself. Watch tournament and mingle with the crowd; we can continue the discussion afterwards. I still need to talk to Shampoo before her big fight." She then walked away with her granddaughter who wasn't showing any obvious animosity towards the foreigners but she didn't trust them either just yet.

"So, what is this all about?" Dongmei asked her fellow elder's guests. "Are you wizards?"

Genma shook his head. "My son might be one. I was sure he was a squib until now, but Cologne thinks he might be able to use magic now that he has a Jusenkyo curse."

"Ah, I see. That's why she talked about a test. Very interesting. Well, that shouldn't be too difficult. Come to my house after the tournament and we'll know more. I'll see you later then. In the meantime enjoy the fight."

"I will," Ranma answered and mingled with the crowd, eagerly listening to the people's conversations around him and still marveling at the usefulness of the translation spell. Genma, who was pretty much desensitized to the use of magic, enjoyed one of his favorite pastimes, gambling. He placed a bet on the winner at the makeshift betting office. He didn't know the fighters, but he was an accomplished martial arts master, and even if he hadn't seen Shampoo fight he was sure she'd win. She was very nimble and walked with a feline grace which was perfect against her opponent who was a slow, crude fighter relying on power. She clearly had the advantage on the narrow log as she only needed to evade her opponent's powerful strikes and disrupt her balance. He imagined a fight between her and Ranma and was convinced that it would be very entertaining to watch, not that she had a chance against his son of course, but she could probably give a good showing.

After a while Shampoo came back with her great-grandmother, brimming with confidence and ready to take on her opponent and secure the title. She jumped onto the log where her opponent had already been waiting and smirked at the butch girl. She was handed a pair of melon hammers while her adversary used her tetsubo once again. As soon as the fighters got into a stance, weapons at the ready the crowd's cheers died down as everyone was anxiously waiting for the referee to give the starting signal.

A middle-aged woman wearing very fine and probably very expensive silk clothes slowly approached the log and lifted her right arm. She extended her hand and let the arm fall down, signaling the start of the fight.

Shampoo's opponent attacked as soon as the signal had been given with a heavy blow which completely missed the agile girl who then jumped over the powerful offense oriented fighter. This was going on for a while with Shampoo dodging every single attack, waiting for a chance to finish the fight with a single blow. She didn't have to wait for long. The large fighter overextended a very powerful blow which caused her to become unbalanced, a mistake which Shampoo was quick to take advantage of. She jumped in the air and kicked her opponent in the neck. While the blow was not all that powerful it was enough to make the tetsubo wielder lose her balance and fall off the log. Shampoo raised her hand in the air and gave the V sign while smirking at her opponent who had trouble getting up. The referee jumped on the log, grabbed Shampoo's arm, and declared her the victor while the crowd was cheering. A very happy champion jumped off the log and was immediately crowded by the onlookers and her fellow competitors who all wanted to congratulate her for her impressive and undisputable win.

Cologne let her great-granddaughter bask in the adulation of the audience for a few minutes knowing how the girl must feel, having experienced the same thing when she was that age. Once the commotion had died down a bit she joined the group and took the new champion in her arms. "You did great, my heir. I'm really proud of you, but we'll talk more afterwards; you still have to give the victory speech after all."

As Shampoo was basking in the cheers of her fellow Amazons the other participants had lined up and were waiting for the new champion to open the festivities, which was traditionally done with a speech, the contents of which was up to the victor, although it usually conveyed a similar message.

The young girl lifted both her arms and spread them out, causing the conversations around her to stop as the crowd was waiting for the champion's victory speech. They didn't have to wait long. "My fellow warriors and friends." The young champion began. "Another tournament has come to an end, and a new champion has been crowned. It's a great honor to follow in the footsteps of some of our greatest champions like Liu Ling or Fan Fang Jie, but there's one very special person I'd like to dedicate my victory to, my great-grandmother Cologne. Without her help I'd never have made it this far." She turned towards the matriarch and bowed deeply. The crowd erupted in cheers and clapped. Shampoo raised her arms once again and the spectators fell silent. "I'd also like to congratulate all the other participants for the strength and determination they've shown throughout the tournament. They really made me work for my victory and I'd like to thank them for that. I can't think of anything else to say and my speech has been long enough anyway, so I'll get immediately to the part everyone's been waiting for. So, without further ado, LET THE FEAST BEGIN!"

Immediately the whole village was in uproar. Some people resumed their conversations while others left and came back with foodstuff and drinks and still others broke into songs or started to dance to the sound of the music played by some very talented musicians. Genma had a more materialistic reaction as he went to collect his winnings.

Ranma was just standing there completely lost not having much experience with parties and feasts. Cologne approached the young martial artist with an annoyed Shampoo in tow. The new champion didn't understand why her great-grandmother was making such a fuss about some weak foreigners, who were male to boot. She had just won the annual tournament and the elder should concentrate on her and not some strangers. Her interest had been piqued however since her great-grandmother usually wasn't so accommodating to foreigners, especially on such an important day. This was probably that diplomacy thing she has mentioned in her teachings, a concept the young Amazon didn't really understand just yet.

"Great fight," the pigtailed teen praised the Amazon. "You have some nice moves for a girl. Can't wait to see how well you'll do against me."

Shampoo stiffened at the unintended insult and Cologne shook her head. _'That boy really needs to learn some tact',_ she thought.

The lavender haired girl looked venomously at Ranma. "What did you say? How dare you insult an Amazon, MALE! I'll show you what a girl can do. I…"

"SHAMPOO! STOP!" The elder shouted. She then turned towards Ranma. "And YOU! Watch your mouth. You really need to learn some tact, you know. What did I tell you about insulting Amazons?"

"Sorry," the chastised teenager meekly apologized.

She then turned back to her great-granddaughter. "Shampoo, he really didn't mean anything by it. He's a stranger to our culture and didn't mean to insult you. How about you two have a match tomorrow and find out who the better fighter is? Today is a day of joy and fun and shouldn't be ruined by a childish fight. IS…THAT… CLEAR?" She looked sternly at the teens that could only flinch at the harsh reprimand directed towards them. They timidly nodded and Ranma realized that pissing off the elder might be detrimental to his health.

"I'm sorry," a sheepish Ranma extended his hand to the young champion. She took the hand without looking in Ranma's direction and harrumphed.

"Apology accepted," she answered insincerely but the pigtailed boy reluctantly decided to let it go. He'd show her tomorrow who the better fighter was.

"That's better," Cologne approved.

While Shampoo went over to the table where a veritable feast was waiting for the champion and her fellow Amazons to be partaken in Cologne bade Ranma to follow her away from the crowd. He was rather reluctant since he hadn't eaten anything in quite some time, but the elder reassured him that there was more than enough for everyone and that he would get something later, as soon after they'd tested him. She gave Dongmei a sign and followed her towards a large hut with Ranma in tow.

The witch opened the door and bade them in. "Welcome to my humble abode. I have to admit that you've wetted my appetite and I can't wait to hear the whole story."

The elder told Dognmei all about the young martial artist's past after getting his approval and the old witch was listening intently, nodding at some parts and shaking her head at others. "I see," she said after having heard the whole story. "Well then. Let's find out if you are indeed a wizard."

She rummaged through a large chest that was sitting in a corner and very quickly found what she was looking for. She handed one of the items to Ranma who didn't understand why she would give him a stick.

"This is a so-called 'beginner's wand'. It is not keyed to anybody's magical signature and you can't cast powerful spells with it. These are used to help children get a feel for their magic before getting their first real wand. Beginner's wands are not regulated by the Magical Government and can be owned and used by anyone since they are harmless. At most you'll be able to cast a _lumos_ spell. Just swish it and see if anything happens."

Ranma complied and could feel the wand connect to something inside of his body. He couldn't really describe it, but it felt somewhat warm. He told the two elders about it and they nodded to each other.

"That proves it," Dongmei stated. "Congratulations, you're a wizard."

"Could you show him the basics?" Cologne addressed her fellow elder. "I'll go and get his father to inform him of the result of our little test."

"No problem," the witch replied.

The old woman pogoed back to the victory feast and saw the boy's father stuff his face rather disgustingly, eating as if it was his last meal. Well, they'd had a good harvest so foot was aplenty, but the man's eating habits still unnerved her a bit. She tapped the martial artist on the shoulder who promptly turned around, half a chicken hanging out of his mouth.

"Waaa aaaa?" He asked unintelligibly hastily gobbling down the food.

Cologne grimaced at the disgusting act. "We've finished testing Ranma and it's just as I thought; he is indeed a wizard. Follow me and we can talk about his options. Our top witch is showing him the ropes and teaching him the fundamental facts about the Wizarding Society he should have learnt while growing up. Rest assured that I don't blame you. How could you have known that things would turn out like they have?"

It didn't take them long to get back to the hut where Ranma was sitting on the floor, listening to Dongmei's explanations on the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy.

"The International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy was laid down by the International Confederation of Wizards in 1689 to safeguard the Wizarding Community from muggles, and to hide their existence from the world at large. I'm sure you were surprised to learn that magic was real after falling into the spring. Well, now you know the reason. Some countries enforce the Statute more than others, but it's the general consensus amongst all of the magical governments that the less the muggles know about magic the better, especially since the countries who fail to uphold the Statute will face punishment. This Statute has been passed to avoid the persecution of wizarding children by muggles, to lessen the attempts by muggles to force wizards to teach them magic or help them fight their wars, and to avoid any further witch burnings. Unfortunately for you this also includes hiding the existence of magical creatures. Since you're a citizen of Japan your country may be in serious trouble should you ever reveal or showcase your magical abilities in public. That's why it's imperative for you to learn to control your Veela powers as soon as possible or you might even face execution. Magical creatures don't benefit from many rights in a lot of countries and are often discriminated against, persecuted, or even openly hunted."

"Really? It's that bad?" The pigtailed boy wanted to know.

"That it is," Dongmei confirmed. "Unfortunately, a lot of the old wizarding families are rather bigoted, old-fashioned, and set in their ways. They often look down on those that are not of their social standing. Magical creatures, even intelligent ones, are at the bottom of the food chain. It's sad but it's a fact you have to live with if you want to survive out there. Even in the more progressive countries, where magical creatures have some rights and are theoretically protected, the wizarding courts rarely pursue purebloods that harm or kill a magical creature. The one thing you must never forget is that in the wizarding world it's the people with the money and the political and social power who decide the rules everyone else has to play by."

The old Amazon gave the young wizard a sad look. "I'm really sorry for you, but unfortunately your curse will probably keep you from ever leading a normal life in the Wizarding World. It's in your best interest to reveal it to as few people as possible."

Ranma let his head fall down much to his father's dismay who once again wished that he'd never heard of Jusenkyo. He firmly embraced his son to calm him down. "Don't worry, boy. We'll pull through. I'll try everything I can to find a cure, even if the chances are very slim. We should never lose hope. We'll deal with this problem together like we always do. You have suffered a lot to become the man you are and survived everything I put you through. I'm sure that this time, too, you'll pull through."

"I'm sure he will," Cologne put the foreigners' minds at ease. "From what I've seen and learnt so far your son is a survivor. And things aren't really all that bad as your cursed form has at least one very significant advantage compared to other curses: you look completely human and as long as you rein in your aura and don't use any magic in front of muggles no one will ever be the wiser. You also have to consider that no one can force you to live in the Wizarding World, and as long as you don't draw attention to yourself, or reveal the existence of magic to muggles the Wizarding World won't care about what you do."

"Yeah, you have already told me about it, but I didn't think things would be that bad. Just what I needed; more complications in my life."

Cologne didn't have a satisfying answer and stayed silent. There was nothing she could do about the curse. The boy would have to deal with it. The more pressing problem at the moment was his father. They really needed to check if he had been cursed by his father-in-law or not.

"Dongmei, I have another request."

"Yes? What do you need, Cologne?"

"Could you check if Mr. Saotome is affected by any curses or charms, besides his Jusenkyo curse of course? We have reasons to believe that his father-in-law might have used the _Confundus_ Charm on him, maybe even the _Imperius _Curse."

Dongmei took out her wand and cast several diagnostic charms on the bespectacled man. After analyzing the results which only took a few moments she confirmed Cologne's suspicions. "You were right. He has indeed been subjected to the _Confundus_ Charm. It's very old though; it must have been cast several years ago. Reversing it should be easy. I'll just have to find it in my books. Too bad a simple _finite incantatem_ isn't enough for such a complicated spell."

Ranma really felt weak in the knees after his worst fears had been confirmed, yet he was surprised that he didn't feel as depressed as before, probably because deep inside he'd already accepted the fact. He didn't know what to do next, except that he'd make a wide berth around his family.

Meanwhile Dongmei had gone to work and quickly browsed through the table of contents of the heavy tome she had taken off of a shelf. "There it is. Just stand over there and don't move. This will take but a moment."

Ranma paid a lot of attention to the elder's wand movements and unfamiliar foreign words she was using. It always fascinated him to see a master of his art at work. He watched as the spell hit his father and he hoped that it would work.

"It's done," the old witch solemnly proclaimed."

The pigtailed martial artist watched the elder cast her diagnostic spells once again and this time imitated her wand movements and tried to memorize the words. He wasn't very successful at it but it was a beginning.

"The charm has been successfully dispelled," she announced to her audience after finishing the procedure. "He should be alright now."

"Well, that's one problem we won't have to deal with in the future," Cologne said. "Onto the next one." She then turned towards her fellow elder. "Dongmei, do you have any books on Veela? I think it's important for young Ranma to learn more about the abilities of his cursed from before he leaves. It's vital for his survival to learn as much as he can."

"Well… I'm sure I can find some stuff in my books, but it will take time. Why don't you attend the feast while I do some research? This will also give me the time to collect some study material for our young guest and procure some books on the history of the Wizarding World and other useful information."

"That's a good idea," Cologne agreed. "We'll see you tomorrow then. Thanks for your help."

"Think nothing of it. You know that I like teaching. Oh, and Ranma, before you leave I want to give you some advice and I'd like you to think it over until we meet again. Magic is not an exact science and can't be explained rationally. Why does it work like that? Why do we have to use these exact wand movements and incantations for the spell to take effect? No one knows although many wise wizards and witches have tried to find an answer. Magic isn't supposed to make sense I think. It's been part of this world since the dawn of time and I'm glad it's so difficult to understand since life would be a lot more boring otherwise. That's why I love magic; there's always something new to learn.

Before you really start your magical studies I want you to understand one thing that most young wizards never even think about as they've been surrounded by magic their whole life: never take anything you learn about magic at face value. Most wizards simply accept the way things are and never question the reason as to why they are that way they are. That's the reason why the Wizarding World has been stagnating for a long time. The children rarely try to come to their own conclusions and mostly adopt their parents' view of things.

That's why people like you, who don't have any magical background and consequently no preconceived ideas about how magic is supposed to work are important for the future of the Wizarding World as it is very often they who come up with new ideas or concepts.

Well, I think I've said enough for today. Enjoy your stay and come back tomorrow. Have fun."

"Thank you. I will. See you tomorrow." Cologne, Genma, and Ranma bowed and left the hut.

"I've rarely seen her talk that much," the matriarch remarked. "I think she likes you. She has given you some good advice and I completely agree with her. I believe that there are no limits to what magic can accomplish and one of the goals in the life of every witch and wizard should be to improve their skills. Same as with martial arts, actually. I'm sure the both of you understand that. It's the Amazon way. Find out what you're good at and try to come as close to perfection in your chosen art as you can."

"That's a philosophy I can agree with," Genma answered before he noticed that his son was awfully quiet. "Do you feel alright, boy?"

"I'll survive. It's a lot to take in, but I've decided. I don't want to meet my family. You're all the family I need."

Genma was moved by his son's heartfelt declaration. "Thank you, son."

Ranma shrugged. "Yeah, well I don't even remember them. I guess that means I never really cared about 'em. For now I want to concentrate on my magical studies. I can't wait to learn magic. Wizardry really has a lot in common with martial arts, I think."

"You're absolutely right," Cologne confirmed. "It's true for every other art, be it martial or not. Striving to be the best is always a noble goal. I'm sure your father agrees with me," the elder claimed.

"She's right. I know that it was selfish of me to keep you focused on the martial arts, but as a result you've become one of the best fighters of your generation. I won't stop you from learning magic as long as you promise not to neglect your martial arts training. I want you to show your mother and grandparents what fools they've been to dismiss you that easily."

"I promise. There are probably some techniques you haven't taught me yet. I can't wait to learn them as long as there is no insane training involved, not like I can blame you for it now that I know the truth. And I have to admit that all the crazy stuff I've gone through has made me strong."

"That's the spirit," Cologne encouraged the young martial artist. "I know a thing or two about dangerous training methods, but there's a difference between dangerous and insane. The nekoken training definitely falls into the second category and you should really try to get cured of the trauma; it's too much of a liability. I'm sure that you can conquer your fear if you work really hard at it. It will take a lot of time however. But enough of these depressing discussions. This is not a day to mope around. Just enjoy the festival for today and we can talk more tomorrow. There are some things I need to take care of before I go to bed. See you tomorrow."

Having said her piece she left and the two foreigners took her words to heart and had fun, enjoying the food, the music, and in Genma's case the alcohol.

**01234543210**

The village was rather silent the following day as most villagers too tired or sloshed to work. Genma was completely wasted and sleeping off his hangover on the floor of a random hut he had been invited into and it was a very tired Ranma who knocked on Dongmei's door, accompanied by a cheerful Cologne who didn't look tired at all. He was quite impressed by her stamina. They didn't have to wait long as the door opened by itself, as if by magic… which it probably was the pigtailed boy thought. Now that would be a useful spell to learn.

They entered and saw Dongmei busily browsing through some books and taking notes. Ranma was astonished when he saw several quills writing into a dozen of opened books at insane speeds.

"Oh, you're here." She lifted her eyes from the book she had been reading. "Don't mind the mess, I'm copying some study materials for you: beginners spell books, wizarding history books, and several books about magical creatures, especially those which mention Veela."

"I don't understand," Ranma answered in Japanese.

"Oh, I forgot. How silly of me."

She took her wand and recast the translation spell. "Sorry about that. That's the inconvenience with this spell. It wears off rather quickly. You should learn at least some basic Chinese as it will be some time until you're ready to learn this spell."

"I see you've been busy," Cologne interrupted. "Have you found anything to help our young friend master his Veela abilities?"

"Sadly, no. He'll have to find a Veela for that."

"That's a pity. Well, at least I'll be able to help him control his sorcery skills before he leaves. He's much too dangerous to be left alone."

"Hey! I'm here you know. I know to how far I can go before I injure anyone, thank you very much."

"Then you're a fool. That might be true for martial arts, but you have no experience with magic and not a clue as to how to use your fire powers. I can guarantee that you will be splashed more than once on your way home and while I can't help you with the Veela charm I'll make damn sure that you won't inadvertently set anything on fire. You WILL learn to control your fire abilities. That's a promise. It would be foolish to let you leave like you are now. For the next month you'll stay here and I'll teach you sorcery in the mornings and Dongmei will teach you wizardry in the afternoons."

"And what about martial arts?" The teenager wanted to know. "I promised not to neglect my training. How about teaching me some of your techniques?"

"Out of the question!" Cologne countered. We don't teach our special techniques to outsiders. If you agree to join our tribe I'll think about it. For the rest I'm sure you'll find some time to train with your father. What do you say? Do you agree?"

Ranma thought about it for a while. He was sure Cologne was overly dramatic, but it was a fact she knew more about magic than he did, and if there was even the slightest chance that he might lose control over his abilities he was reluctant to take the risk. Control has been one of the first precepts his father had taught him. A martial artist was a living weapon and never used more force than absolutely necessary, lest they cripple or even kill their opponents and so his only possible choice was to agree to the old woman's proposition.

After Ranma had left the hut and Cologne was about to follow she was stopped by Genma. "One moment of your time, please elder."

"Yes, what is it?"

"Isn't a month a bit long? The boy is an excellent student and I'm sure he'll master the training a lot faster than that."

"I believe you, but the training is not the only reason why I want him to stay here for a month?"

This came as a surprise to the bespectacled man. "Really? What other reason could there be?"

Cologne just grinned at him and chuckled. "You really have no idea? Tell me, what do you know about female biology?"

He considered those words and his eyes widened comically when he understood what the elder was getting at? "So, you mean… he's completely…?"

"She nodded. Yes, the transformation is complete, and I doubt you'd want to deal with the problem while trekking through the wilderness."

He nodded vigorously much to Cologne's amusement.

"Will you tell him?" He asked, afraid that it would be up to him to inform his son.

"Not right now. It would come as too much of a shock to him if I told him right away. He'll have to get used to his female form first. I think that after a month in the village that shouldn't be a big issue any longer."

With that said the conversation was over and Cologne joined Ranma outside.

**01234543210**

The next month consisted of training, training, and even more training.

Dongmei, after giving him a training wand (1), showed him how to channel his magic and how to cast a few very simple spells. She also taught him a bit of magical history, etiquette, the inner workings of the various Magical Governments, how do identify the most common magical creatures and what they were capable of as well, not to forget all the most basic knowledge that he should have acquired as a child, among others that sticking one's wand into one's back pocket could be fatal.

Cologne's training sessions were held outside of the village far away from anyone who would be affected by Ranma's aura. The training regime included meditation techniques as well as the production and control of fire, magical as well as natural. Ranma was especially intrigued by the magical fire as it burnt much hotter than ordinary fire and her trainer told her that its biggest advantage but also biggest flaw was that it was very difficult to heal burns caused by it. Cologne was a rather harsh taskmistress as the young Veela found out the hard way, and she tried every trick in the book to make Ranma lose her concentration and thus also lose control over the fire, but in the end it had been worth it. She wanted to learn how to control the other elements as well, but when Cologne told her it would take years she reconsidered. The matriarch offered to continue her training once the young Veela had mastered all of her natural abilities and Ranma agreed.

Genma trained his son in the evenings although at a slower pace seeing the state his son was in after his sessions with Cologne. He required a training ground far away from prying eyes while he was teaching Ranma the senkens. If the Amazons refused to hand over their techniques he didn't see why he should fork over his most secret techniques, some of the deadliest ones ever invented. Cologne agreed on the condition that the bald martial artist repaid the community for all their help they'd given him and his son by training their warriors in some of the simpler techniques of his school.

The planned duel with Shampoo had been postponed however, much to the young Amazon's ire as she was convinced that the outsider was just afraid to face her. The first day of his training she followed the boy around to observe him and see what he was up to and was shocked when she saw him change genders after the matriarch had doused him with water. Cologne had to shake her heavily before she recovered her wits. Intense jealousy immediately developed inside of her and it was only after Cologne had led her away from the gender changing martial artist that she calmed down. After a quick explanation the lavender haired girl went away in deep thought and didn't bother them again while Cologne returned to her student's side to start her training.

Shampoo however continued her spying activities over the following days as the stranger who was so unlike the male Amazons intrigued her. Here was a boy who was sure of himself and not a spineless wimp like the rest of the boys in the village. She found him quite interesting and was also impressed by his prowess. She couldn't wait to fight against him and test his limits. Her great-grandmother had promised that the fight had only been postponed and not called off. Another thing that impressed her was the foreigner's tenacity. She knew from experience that the matriarch always went full out and didn't stop until she was satisfied with the results of the training. Even more astonishing was that he still had the energy to train with his father in the evening. Ranma's resiliency was another thing that had really impressed her and so she befriended the teen who was so very different from the tales she had heard about foreigners.

It was on the thirty-first day of Ranma's training when it happened. Shortly after the elder had splashed him with a bit of water, just enough to activate the curse, her boxers became wet and when she looked down she noticed some red spots. She pulled them down and saw that she was bleeding out of 'that' thing. Before she could panic Cologne pressed a spot on her chest which caused her body to lock up and refuse to budge.

She glared at the elder which didn't impress the old woman at all. "I'll free you if you promise to stay calm. Blink if you agree."

The Veela complied and Cologne pressed another spot, this time on the back, which liberated her and the blonde fell to the ground in a heap, tears forming in her eyes, eyes fixated on the bloody mess.

"Don't worry. This happens to every woman once a month."

The Amazon then explained the menstrual cycle to a horrified Ranma whose eyes widened a bit more with each new bit of information. She knew a bit about that of course, but since she'd never expected to have one of her own she hadn't really paid attention. After Cologne had shown her a tampon and a pad an how to use them she chose the pad and after the old woman had handed her panties she put both items on and was surprised as to how well they fit. They made training in female form a lot easier than the boxers did.

"Okay, ready when you are," Ranma challenged the elder.

"The training is over," Cologne answered. "In fact, you've already achieved decent enough control a few days ago. I just wanted to keep you around long enough for you to experience your menarche."

The blonde understood the old woman's reasons although she was a bit pissed that she hadn't been informed before and had to go through that mortifying experience without any mental preparation. It had been bad enough that she'd been shown how to apply makeup, look after he body, wear female underwear and other dresses, how to walk in high heels and other skills every young woman should have. The reasons for this torture were rather flimsy in her opinion, but since her father agreed with the Amazons she complied and after the month was over and 15-20 minutes of training every day she was able to pass off as a normal girl, except for the Veela aura of course which made her new skills useless until she learned how to control it. However, all of those experiences combined didn't even come close to the embarrassment she had felt after Cologne's earlier lecture.

The next day Ranma and Shampoo held their long awaited duel, but instead of the grudge match everyone had expected it to be it had turned into fight between equals. There was competitiveness, yes, but no resentment from either side. They didn't use any destructive special techniques, only pure skill, since neither of them wanted to injure their opponent. They offered the spectators a beautiful match that lasted for at least twenty minutes but in the end Ranma had the better stamina and he was declared the victor.

"Well done you two," Cologne congratulated the two exhausted fighters. "I've haven't seen such an intense and entertaining fight in a long time. I'm sure that we can expect a lot from you in the years to come."

Shampoo was sad to have lost, yet she didn't resent her opponent at all for her defeat, much to her own surprise. She had given her all and yet it had not been enough in the end. She'd have to step up her training and challenge her newfound friend again.

After the fight Genma and Ranma packed their things so that they could leave early the next morning. The young wizard's backpack was especially heavy since it was filled with magic books that Dongmei had copied for him.

**01234543210**

The following day came sooner than expected for the teenager who was a little sad to leave the village where he made some good friends, but he was also very excited at the prospect discover a whole new world out there; a world he knew nothing about but which he wanted to explore.

"Are you sure you don't want to join the tribe," Cologne asked the two travelers once again as she followed them to the outskirts of the village together with Dongmei. "We could teach you a lot."

"Thank you for the offer," Genma answered sincerely, "but there's so much we have to do and so many things that my son has yet to discover before he can settle down."

"I understand," the matriarch said. "I was like that too when I was younger. I've always loved traveling around and explore the world. I hope that you'll come back and show me the results of your training, young Ranma."

"Of course," Ranma assured. "I promised Shampoo a rematch and I keep my promises."

"I hope so. I'll train her very hard and you can be sure that she'll be much stronger the next time you fight."

"I'm counting on it. I won't slack off either."

"And don't forget to send us letters from time to time. The owl post is very reliable, so we should get your letters very fast."

"I promise."

Genma and Ranma then bowed to the two elders and left. A short time later a very sad looking Shampoo came out of hiding and joined the sorceress and the witch. "Why didn't you say goodbye to your friend?" Cologne asked. "I'm sure he would have been very happy."

"I couldn't let him see me like this. An Amazon is supposed to be strong and never show any weakness to outsiders."

"Hoho. Are you sure that's the only reason?" Cologne chuckled when she saw her heir blush a bit. "Don't worry. You'll see him again one day. In the meantime let us train. After all, you'll probably want to impress him next time you see him."

This lightened Shampoo's mood and she followed the elders back into the village hoping that she would really see that interesting boy again.

**01234543210**

(1) The beginner's wand is mostly used as a tool to help the aspiring wizard or witch get a feel for magic and to let them cast some simple spells which don't have any effect at all. The training wand on the other hand is pretty similar to a real wand except for a few restrictions: the effects of the spells are limited in time, lasting at most one or two seconds, and the wands can't be used to harm people.

Finished and posted: 01/30/2011

Edited: 01/30/2011 + 01/01/2012


	4. Meeting the Tendos

Hi everyone. Here's a new chapter. I hope you'll like it. If you have any questions don't be afraid to ask. I'm happy with any feedback I get, good or bad.

**Important! Edit 01/01/2012** I made some changes to the previous chapter and this one and got rid of some inconsistencies.

I'd like to thank the crowd at fukufics and the fanfiction forum for their advice and ideas, and especially Spokavriel, borgrabbit, and frice2000. They helped a lot with improving the first draft of the story.

**CHAPTER 2**

_**What has gone before:**_

_Genma and Ranma have arrived at Jusenkyo, a supposedly legendary training ground. Not heeding the guide's warnings they spar on top of the bamboo poles sticking out of hundreds of pools. Of course they fall into the springs and end up cursed. Ranma turns into a Veela and Genma into an anthropomorphic panda girl. We learn about Ranma's past and how Nodoka, a pureblooded witch from a very prominent clan got pregnant with him. After staying with the Amazons for a month so that Ranma can adapt to his new powers they've finally returned to Japan._

Soun Tendo was browsing through his mail when he noticed a postcard buried among the letters. When he saw who it was from his eyes widened and a smile blossomed on his face. He hadn't seen his old training partner in years and couldn't wait to hear about Genma's and Ranma's adventures. He had met the boy a few times when he was still an infant and was curious as to how far he had come in the art.

Eager to share his joy with his daughters he called for the eldest who usually was in the kitchen at this time.

"Kasumi?" He called but didn't get an answer.

"KASUMI?" He tried again, louder this time, with exactly the same the result.

"Where is that girl?" He muttered on his way to the kitchen. When he poked his head through the doorway he saw his daughter sitting at the table reading a book while all around her the different cleaning materials were working in a frenzy to clean the kitchen on their own. She was wearing a simple housedress and her long brown hair was hanging down her back and tied together with a ribbon.

A solitary tear was leaving the man's eye as he thought back to his wife who had been just as talented with household charms as his daughter was.

"Kasumi!" He tried once more, this time getting a reaction from the teenager.

"Yes, father?" She lifted her eyes from her book and gave her father a questioning look.

"I have some good news. Could you fetch your sisters, please? I have an announcement to make."

"Yes, father. Right away."

She took her wand and with a few swishes banished the cleaning equipment back into the broom closet before going to the first floor and knocking on her youngest sister's door.

"Akane?" Kasumi called. "I'm coming in, alright?"

She opened the door but the room was empty. "She's probably in the dojo."

The girl shrugged and turned towards her other sister's bedroom door. She could always tell Akane afterwards.

"Who is it?" A voice asked halfheartedly after hearing a knock at the door.

"It's me. Can I come in?" Kasumi politely asked as knew that Nabiki didn't like other people barging into her room.

"Two minutes. I have to finish something first."

The eldest daughter patiently waited in front of the room for a bit and soon thereafter her sister called, "You can come in now."

When Kasumi entered into the room she saw her sister, who was wearing a fireproof apron over her t-shirt and shorts, fill several flacons with a murky, smoking liquid from a small cauldron.

"Sorry for making you wait but interrupting the process could have been dangerous."

Kasumi frowned deeply at her sister. "You know you're not supposed to brew potions without supervision from an adult, and especially not in your room."

Nabiki just chuckled. "Heh. I'm not Akane, sis; I know what I'm doing."

"That's not a valid argument and you really shouldn't talk about your sister like that."

"But I'm right; and you know it. After all, isn't Akane the first student to ever have been banned from the potions lab at school? The potions teacher is still trying to find out how she made a simple cough potion explode. Thank God no one was killed. Face it, she sucks at brewing."

Kasumi just sighed. Nabiki was right of course, although she needn't be so blunt about it. Their sister was a natural disaster when it came to brewing, household charms, and cooking. "You're not helping, you know. How do you expect her to improve if you make fun of her all the time?"

"Meh! It's just some harmless fun. She can take it," Nabiki waved off her sister's concerns.

Kasumi on the other hand didn't share her sister's optimism. "I hope you're right."

"Yeah. Don't worry. So, what's up?"

"Oh yes, I almost forgot. Father has some important news for us. Can you come down?"

"Eh? What does he want now?"

"I don't really know, but I have rarely seen him in such a good mood."

"Really?" Nabiki couldn't hide her surprise. "Then it must be really important. Okay, I'll finish up here and I'll be down in a few minutes."

"I'll tell him. I just need to find Akane now. She's not in her room."

"Oh, she's out on a jog", Nabiki explained. "I saw her leave the yard 15 minutes ago. She should be back very soon."

Kasumi nodded and left the room thinking about her sister's obsession with martial arts. Akane was the one who took the most after their father and she admired him for what he did and had already decided years ago to follow in her father's footsteps as a martial artist, but wanted to take it further and become a great combat mage, blending martial arts and magic together.

Just as the oldest daughter had reached the bottom of the stairs she heard the entrance door open and close before a voice shouted. "I'm home."

"Great timing," she mused.

After Kasumi had left Nabiki turned back to her flacons, took one in her hands and examined the liquid it contained. "Hmm, looks good. Just the right color and consistency. Hehe! Those will fetch a pretty penny at school tomorrow."

She carefully placed the potions in a bag and joined her sisters downstairs.

"Ah, good. You're all here," the mustachioed man smiled at his daughters. "I have good news."

"Oh? You've won the lottery?" Nabiki asked.

"Much better," he grinned happily not recognizing the sarcasm in his daughter's statement. "My old training partner, Genma, is coming over for a visit with his son. They've been on a martial arts training journey for over ten years and are now back in Japan after a long stay in China. Apparently they have had some kind of accident there and have come back sooner than expected. Now, while they are here I expect you to treat them with respect and kindness as Ranma hasn't had an easy life."

"How so?" Akane wondered.

"Well, since you're going to learn it anyway once they are here I'll tell you right now to avoid any later awkwardness: Ranma is a squib. His father is a muggle just like me and the reason he has taken his son on such a long journey is because the boy has been pretty much rejected by his magical family."

"Oh my!" Kasumi put her hands in front of her mouth in shock. "How could they do that to him? It's not his fault that he was born a squib.

"Yes," Akane agreed with her sister. "What kind of monsters are they to reject someone for such a stupid reason? They really need a good dose of reality if you ask me. I'd expect that attitude from loonies like the Kunos. What century are they living in?"

Nabiki just shook her head but didn't say anything. She never understood the mentality of all those blood purists. Money was money after all; whatever its origin.

"Unfortunately, even today a lot of families still think like that, but I know that you're not like that and will accept the boy for what he is and not hold it against him."

He smiled when he saw his daughters nod and knew that they would treat Ranma right. They were good girls and just as accepting and tolerant as his late wife had been. "Alright then, that's all I had to say. They should arrive later today. Please, make them feel welcome."

The three girls nodded once again and left the living room. Kasumi went back into the kitchen, followed by a hungry Nabiki who grabbed a light snack out of the fridge while Akane went to the dojo for some cool down stretches.

**01234543210**

Meanwhile, not far away, Ranma and his father were walking through the streets of Nerima, the former looking right and left, taking in the sights as this was his first time in this part of Tokyo, while the latter continued straightforward towards the goal of their trip, still knowing the way by heart even after all these years. Nerima had weathered the modernization of Tokyo rather well and was one of the few areas of the capital city still anchored in tradition, although for how long, no one could say.

"Are we there yet?" The impatient young martial artist asked his father.

"No, but it isn't far now."

"Are you sure your friend can help us?"

"No, I'm not; but he's the best lead we have outside of your family, and you know what I think of that idea."

Ranma nodded and didn't ask again. He really hoped that the Tendo patriarch could help. The journey from China to Nerima had been a nightmare and he was sick of all the lustful stares his Veela form was getting from the guys. More than once he had had to deal with grabby hands and had to resort to violence to make the perverts stop.

The problem was not that he turned into a girl; well, okay, that WAS a problem, but not the biggest one. The time he had spent with the Amazons had really broken him off most misconceptions he had held about girls and he was really grateful for all the help they had given him, and although he was still trying to come to terms with transforming not only into a girl but also into an entirely different species, especially a magical creature with powers he had no control over, he was making progress. It was slow going but he was getting there, except with his Veela aura. Try as he might he couldn't get a handle on it. Dongmei had been right; he really needed to find a Veela to help him with that problem

The most mortifying thing had been when the Amazons taught him how to be and act as a girl. He knew how the biology worked of course, but being shown how to use a pad or a tampon had been one of the most mortifying experiences he had ever been subjected too, although being shown how to walk in heels, how to apply make-up, and how to wear a bra had been pretty embarrassing too. However, this training too had helped him come to terms with what he had become, at least partially. The curse would probably stay with him for all of his life and the sooner he learnt to accept it the better it would be, although he still hoped that he'd find a cure one day.

Still, if he had to fall into a gender changing spring he would have much preferred to fall into the regular spring of drowned girl, at least then he wouldn't have to deal with all the lustful or hateful stares he was getting and probably wouldn't have to constantly beat off perverts, who only thought about getting into his pants. Still, there WERE far worse springs he could have fallen into. At least he stayed human, or rather he could pass as one once he could control his aura.

However, and he had to agree with the Amazons on this, there were perks to his curse. He now had access to wand magic, as was his birthright, as well as some other talents. While travelling through the Chinese wilderness he had spent most of his time in his cursed form practicing his newfound powers, and while he had become rather good at creating and manipulating fire his wizardry skills were still rudimentary as he was barely able to cast a few simple spells, but he was sure this would change once he got a real wand and a teacher. He would however gladly get rid of his aura even if that was a Veela's most powerful weapon. He really didn't need it since he was plenty strong enough without. His father had made sure of that.

"We're here." Genma pulled Ranma out of his thoughts and pointed at a large compound.

The pigtailed boy looked at the estate and whistled in awe. "They must be loaded."

"Not really," the bespectacled man answered. "The estate has been in the Tendo family for generations, and even if Soun is well off he's far from rich."

"What does he do? He must earn a lot to afford such a large property."

Genma looked around and not seeing anyone in vicinity he answered his son's question. "Haven't I told you? Well, he's a martial arts master and we trained under the same master. While I've been training only you he has chosen another path. He's working for the magical government training their aurors in martial arts."

"Aurors? Oh, right. They are like the magical police, right?"

"Exactly, and as far as I know the job pays rather well."

"Sounds nice," Ranma commented and walked up to the door but he was quickly stopped by Genma.

"Not yet. Do you remember the story?"

"Yeah, sure. No problem."

"Don't take this lightly!" The middle-aged martial artist raised his voice before remembering where he was. He looked around once again and let out a sigh when he saw that they were alone. "You remember what the Amazons told us, don't you? This is your future we're talking about," he whispered to his son.

"Okay, okay, I get it." Ranma whispered back. I must never mention 'that place' and especially not that the 'accident' activated my magical core."

"Correct. And why is that?"

"So that 'that place' can never be abused by the wrong people to create armies of magical creatures or to become all-powerful, and if the wizards ever found out how I turned from a squib into a wizard they would probably chase me to the end of the world and I'd end up as a guinea pig never to be released from the lab ever again."

"Please, take this seriously," Genma grabbed his son by his shoulders and shook him. "You are my only son and I only want what's best for you."

"I know. I promise I'll be careful."

"Alright. I trust you."

He let go of his child and approached the large door set into the impressive perimeter wall and rang the bell.

The two travelers waited patiently for a few moments until the door was opened by a middle-aged man.

"Saotome!" The mustachioed man's eyes lit up as he recognized his old training partner and he opened his arms, taking him into a manly embrace.

"Tendo!" Genma answered just as enthusiastically and accepted the embrace.

Soun let go and looked intensely at the teen accompanying his old training partner. "And that must be Ranma. I haven't seen him since he was an infant. He's quite the strapping lad I see. You must be very proud of him."

"That I am. He's my pride and joy and probably one of the best martial artists of his generation. No thanks to his family of course," Genma added crossly.

"I see," the Tendo patriarch said in a serious tone. "You still haven't forgiven your in-laws, have you?"

"Certainly not; and I never will after what they've done."

"Does Ranma know?"

"About my past and the reason why I took him on the journey? Yes, I've told him."

"Well, I can't tell you how to live your life, but after all this time don't you think your in-laws might have mellowed a bit?"

Genma just snorted. "I seriously doubt it, especially after what I found out a few weeks ago."

"Oh? There's probably quite the story behind it, but we should get inside first. There's an excellent bottle of sake waiting for us that I've been keeping for a special occasion, and I think that today qualifies. I can't wait to hear about your travels."

"That sounds good. Nothing helps telling a good story more than good sake," Genma's mood improved immediately.

"How right you are. Come in, come in."

Hearing the doorbell ring the three daughters gathered at the entrance to the house, curious to find out who was at the door. Akane was still wearing her sweaty gi, causing Nabiki to wrinkle her nose at the smell.

"You could have washed," Nabiki hissed at her sister in a low voice.

"I didn't exactly have the time you know," the younger girl countered a bit louder.

"Quiet!" Kasumi stopped her bickering sisters.

They peeked though the doorway and saw their father enthusiastically greet a bespectacled man before hugging him. This came as quite a surprise since they had never seen their father give such a warm welcome to anyone. Then their eyes fell on the teenager standing next to the unknown man.

"Ooooh! Major hunk alert!" Nabiki remarked before her enthusiasm took a nosedive as she took in the appearance of the two strangers. "Damn! Doesn't look like they have a lot of money."

"Honestly. Is that all you think about? The world doesn't revolve around money and boys, you know," Akane reprimanded her sister.

"Oh really?" The brunette mocked the younger girl. "My poor, poor, deluded sister. You have no idea." She tsked and shook her head as she gave her sister a pitying look. "You have much to learn. Power and money rule the world and I am determined to have both, and a nice-to-look-at boytoy is a welcome bonus."

"You are such a pig," Akane answered.

Kasumi just shook her head in disapproval. She was used to the bickering of her sisters and had given up trying to stop them a long time ago.

The squabble went on until Akane noticed their father coming back with the two strangers in tow. "Quiet! They're coming."

This shut Nabiki up and the three girls aligned and calmly waited for the group to arrive.

"These are my girls," Soun beamed with pride as he presented them to Ranma. "This is Kasumi. She's the oldest at 17."

Kasumi bowed politely. "Nice to meet you."

"Heya! Nice to meet you too," Ranma greeted back.

"Next we have Nabiki. She's 15.

She gave a quick bow and took a quick glance at Ranma's backside. "Nice butt", she commented causing the pigtailed boy to blush.

"Ahem!" Soun cleared his throat. "Sorry about that," he apologized to Ranma, "she can be a handful sometimes."

Nabiki smirked and winked at their young guest before whispering to him."Just stating the truth."

"Nabiki!" Akane interrupted the scene and shook her head.

"Don't mind her. She's a prude."

"Hey!" Akane harrumphed before remembering that they had guests. "Hi, I'm Akane," she smiled at Ranma and bowed. "Just ignore my sister. She's always like that."

"Nice to meet you," Ranma replied not commenting on the last barb at the girl's older sister.

"She's 14, just like you," Soun stated.

He then turned back to his old training partner. "And this is my old friend, Genma Saotome. We used to train together for many years and he's like a brother to me. You probably don't remember him as you were still very young when he visited us regularly, but I'm sure he remembers you."

"That I do," the portly man confirmed. "I can still remember them driving your wife almost nuts more than once. Taking care of three kids at once must have been very exhausting. He then turned to the three girls and grinned. "You really didn't make your mother's life easy you know."

"Yes, those were good times," Soun sighed loudly as he reminisced, thinking back to better times when his wife was still alive. Tears were forming in his eyes as he continued. "Why did she have to leave us so soon, Saotome? Why?"

"I'm sorry," Genma apologized. "That was insensitive of me. I really didn't want to bring back some bad memories."

"Don't worry about it," the Tendo patriarch said as he rubbed his eyes. "I'm always getting emotional when I think about her death although it has been so long ago already. Still, it feels as if one part of me died with her."

He then looked at his daughters and his smile came back. At least his wife had left him with three gifts, his three daughters who had inherited some of Kimiko's qualities; Kasumi her kindness, Nabiki her intelligence, and Akane her temper, although he sometimes wondered why his youngest daughter had inherited HER culinary talents rather than his own. "But enough of that. This is too joyous an occasion to bring up bad memories. Girls! Why don't you show Ranma around and get to know him better? Genma and I have so much to talk about and it will probably take some time. I'm sure you youngsters have better things to do than listen to us old men talking about times long gone."

The three sisters did just that and left the fathers to their banter.

When the children were gone Soun whispered to his friend. "Have you told him about the other reason why you left with him?"

"No, he's not ready."

"Don't you think he deserves to know?" The Tendo patriarch gave his friend a disapproving look.

"Of course he does, but not now. Trust me on this, Soun old buddy. I know what I'm doing."

"I hope you do, my friend, I hope you do."

**01234543210**

As the youngsters were walking, Nabiki started the conversation with a basic question, trying to find out more about Ranma and especially getting some exploitable information. "So, Ranma. What are your hobbies?"

"Martial arts, of course," he answered like a shot, causing Akane to perk up.

"Are you any good?" the youngest daughter butted in. Nabiki frowned at her but didn't say anything. She had more than enough time to get to know the handsome guy better.

"I'm very good," he answered honestly and without boasting, something that would have come as a shock to anyone who had known the martial artist before the accident at Jusenkyo, but then, living with a tribe of warrior women for almost two weeks, many of whom were better fighters than he was, was a humbling experience.

"Want to prove it?" She challenged him, the friendly smile on her face indicating that she just wanted to have a little informal match and not a grudge match like Ranma was used to.

He shrugged his shoulders in indifference. "Sure, why not?"

"Fighting? Can't you think about anything else?" Nabiki asked, slightly exasperated. "He has just arrived and there are probably other things he'd like to do first. You can always have your little match later."

"I don't mind," the pigtailed boy answered. "What better way to learn more about someone than through a friendly fight?"

Nabiki was slightly disappointed. It looked to her like Ranma was another jock who placed brawn over brain. There were already more than enough of those at school. Still, at least he looked much better than all the others and maybe it would be worth watching the fight just to see those muscles in action.

"Great. The dojo is that way!" Akane enthusiastically led the way.

"I'll leave you alone then; I still have a lot of work to finish," Kasumi excused herself and left for the kitchen. She had no interest in martial arts at all and had never really understood the appeal of beating people up, especially as it was usually up to her to take care of Akane's injuries. At least that allowed her to practice all those medical spells she's been learning from those books she'd borrowed from Dr Tofu, the local chiropractor and mediwizard. He's been taking care of the family ever since he took over the practice of old Dr Matsuyama after his retirement.

Akane went ahead and Ranma and Nabiki followed her, the latter continuing her interrogation of their pigtailed guest, asking simple questions like what food he liked or what his favorite TV shows were.

"Here we are," Akane announced proudly after opening the dojo door, interrupting Nabiki's and Ranma's conversation.

"WOW!" The pigtailed boy was impressed by the size of the building and the large number of weapons hanging on the wall. "Very nice."

"Thanks. There's a changing room behind the small door on the other side if you want to put on a gi."

"No, I'm fine. Thank you."

"Suit yourself," Akane shrugged and took up a stance. Her sister was leaning against the wall behind Ranma and following the boy's every move.

She turned her attention to her opponent who was simply standing there in a relaxed posture, causing the young girl to frown slightly.

"Are you ready?" She asked and seeing the pigtailed boy nod she attacked with a straight punch. Ranma sidestepped, grabbed her arm, and used her momentum to throw her to the ground, much to the young girl's surprise who hadn't expected that. She got up once again and approached her opponent very carefully, not underestimating him any longer. She started her attack with a sudden side punch, which was promptly blocked, and continued with a kick to the knee, which her foe evaded before he hooked her leg and pushed her down, locking her leg in a submission hold.

"You lose," he announced matter-of-factly before letting go.

Akane was a bit peeved at how easily she had lost. She got up and jumped a few meters away glaring at the boy. She reached into her left sleeve and drew out her wand in irritation, having completely forgotten that her opponent was a squib.

"How about a magical duel?" Akane challenged the pigtailed boy. "Let's see how well you do with a wand."

"Akane! No! You can't!" Nabiki shouted.

"Relax, sis! It's just a training wand. I won't get in trouble with the ministry this time."

"That's not the problem here. Have you forgotten what daddy told us? He's a squib. How do you expect him to participate in a magical duel?"

Akane lowered her arm. "Oh, right. I forgot."

"Honestly little sister, you shouldn't let your temper get the better of you all the time."

"THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH MY TEMPER!" She defended herself. Honestly, what was with all the people always harping on her about her temper?

"Actually, you're wrong," he corrected the girls, trying to diffuse the volatile situation.

"About what? Nabiki wondered.

"About me being a squib. Heh, it's a really funny story that. I only found out a few years ago that I was a wizard. It happened as I was running away from an angry bear. When the animal caught up to me, paw raised in the air and ready to strike, I panicked and closed my eyes, wishing to be away from there. I waited for a few moments and when the attack didn't come I opened my eyes and found myself sitting in a tree a few hundred meters away. I was completely lost as I didn't understand what had happened and quickly ran away to my pops. When I told him about it he immediately knew what was up and explained to me that I had apparated. That was also when I learnt that magic was real and that the wizards had their own world called the Magical World. Unfortunately my dad is a muggle and so he couldn't teach me any magic. It wasn't until we passed through a small magical village in China that I got some rudimentary training and a few books on spells. I also got a training wand but I'm not very good yet. Want to see?"

He took out his own training wand and showed it to the girls before pointing it forward. "LUMOS!" He shouted and a barely visible, sickly looking beam of light came out of the tip of the wand. "Heh! I told you I need a little bit of practice."

"A little bit?" Nabiki asked incredulously. "Understatement of the century I'd say. You have a lot of work ahead of you if you want to catch up to the other wizards of your age.

"Oh! That's a shame," Akane regretted. She really wanted to show off her dueling skills.

Ranma noticed this and tried to cheer the girl up. "You can use your wand if you want to. It doesn't matter to me. I can manage without."

Akane frowned disapprovingly at this obvious barb at her skills. _'Is he taking me lightly? Who does he think he is? I'll show him'!_

She pointed her wand at the pigtailed boy. "Are you really sure?" She asked in an annoyed tone. "It's not too late to back down if you want."

"Try your worst," he joked and simply stood there as without a care in the world.

His nonchalance angered Akane and she decided to teach him a lesson and knew just the right spell to do that. Without giving the arrogant prick a warning she attacked. "VOMITO!"

Ranma easily sidestepped the incoming spell much to Akane's ire, but that didn't deter her from trying again, considering her miss a fluke.

"VOMITO!" She shouted once again, but the result was the same.

'_Oh, it's like that, isn't it'?_ She thought. "EVADE THIS! RESTRICTO! PARALYZO! ITCHUS! She quickly cast three spells in succession which was a feat even adult wizards would have trouble equaling.

Much to her shock the spells didn't even slow the martial artist down as he sidestepped them easily and before Akane could cast another spell he had already grabbed her wand arm and hung on to it, not giving her the chance to attack again. When she tried to punch him with her other arm he grabbed that one too. She struggled to break free but Ranma was too strong and didn't give her an inch, even immobilizing her legs with his own.

"See?" He good-naturedly grinned at the girl.

Akane's reaction, however, came as a surprise. He clearly felt the intense fear radiating from her and let go immediately. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" She pushed him violently away before fleeing, leaving a stunned Ranma behind.

"What just happened?"

"Don't blame her," Nabiki explained. "She… has some issues with boys. Let's leave it at that, okay? She'll calm down on her own; she always does."

"Oh, okay. If you say so," he agreed with the girl although he wasn't convinced. He hoped that Akane would like to be friends. He had so few of those.

"Let's get out of here," Nabiki suggested. "I'll show you the rest of the house."

They left the dojo through another door and Nabiki showed their guest the large yard and she raised an eyebrow in surprise when she saw him give the koi pond a wide berth.

So, what do you think?" She asked him after the grand tour was finished.

"Honestly? It's not what I expected."

Nabiki frowned at the pigtailed boy. "What do you mean? Don't you like it?"

"Oh, no! That's not what I meant. It's just… where is the magic? Where are the house-elves? And the magical portraits? The wizards in robes? The house… it looks so normal."

Nabiki had to laugh at Ranma's ignorance. "Of course it does. We live in a muggle neighborhood and so we have to act like muggles. Using training wands is the most we are allowed to do, except for Kasumi. Since she's older than 16 she's allowed to use a real wand, although the use is restricted to the estate of course. We're not allowed to reveal the existence of magic to muggles as I'm sure you've heard.

"I get it, but wouldn't life be a lot easier for you if you lived in the Magical World."

"Don't I know it," Nabiki sighed. "I understand my dad, however. He thinks that we should learn to live in both worlds, and I agree with him. I know some wizards who have never set foot in the Muggle World and don't have the slightest idea how far muggles have come over the last decades. They still believe that the muggle world is stuck in the Middle Ages."

Ranma kept quiet. That was a lot of new information to digest after all and he had to admit that he was similar to those wizards in the sense that he didn't really know much about the Magical World. He was determined to find out though, and as soon as he could he would get some books on the topic.

"Oh, you're back already." Kasumi stated when they entered the house. "How did it go?"

"Well, I won… I guess."

"My, aren't you modest," Nabiki grinned. "You should have seen him, sis. He made Akane look like a rank amateur."

"Oh my! How did Akane take the loss?"

"Not so well I'm afraid," Nabiki answered in a more subdued tone. "She ran away after the match and she's probably moping in her room."

"Maybe I should talk to her."

"No, leave her be, sis. She'll get over it. She needs to grow up and that won't happen if you coddle her all the time."

"I guess you're right. Oh, and Ranma. Do you want to take a bath? I just filled the furo and I believe there's no better way to relax after a match than taking a bath.

"That's alright. I didn't sweat that much. I don't want to be a burden."

"Nonsense! I prepared it especially for your father and you. I'm sure he'd like to take a bath too after such a long trip. Why don't you go ahead and he can join you later?"

"Well, okay. I suppose a quick bath can't hurt."

Kasumi told him where the bathroom was and after rejecting Nabiki's offer to scrub his back the heavily blushing boy left in a hurry. He was so distracted by the mental image of a naked Nabiki scrubbing his back that he completely missed the 'occupied' sign hanging on the door. He was still out of it when he undressed and didn't notice the gi top and pants on the chair in the corner. He entered the bath proper and his eyes widened when he saw Akane sitting on a small chair, in her birthday suit, reaching for the showerhead to wash off the suds.

She immediately noticed him enter the room and screamed. "AH! PERVERT!" She shrieked before running out of the bathroom at full speed after kicking the peeping tom in his private parts.

Her shouts had reverberated throughout the house and might even have alerted the neighbors. Everyone inside the house dropped what they were doing and rushed towards the origin of the noise just to meet the still naked and panicking Akane halfway.

The fathers quickly turned away, and Kasumi and Nabiki tried to calm their sister down.

"What happened?" Kasumi asked with concern in her voice.

"It's Ranma," she growled. "I was washing myself when the pervert snuck up on me and tried to molest me."

Kasumi winced as she had a very good idea of what must have happened. "I don't think Ranma's at fault here. I told him to take a bath. I didn't know you were in the bathroom. This is probably just a misunderstanding."

"I doubt it," Akane countered. "The sign was out and he must have noticed my clothes."

Nabiki was of the same opinion as her older sister. Akane had the unfortunate tendency to overreact. She herself on the other hand was more level-headed and preferred to hear the pigtailed boy's explanation before condemning him. "Where is he now? We'll just ask him and get to the bottom of it."

"He's probably still lying on the bathroom floor."

"Why would… What did you do?" Kasumi asked, worried for their guest. Akane had a lot of strength after all and in her anger she might have really hurt him.

"I knocked him out, of course. What did you expect me to do? Let the pervert rape me without defending myself?"

"I understand," the eldest daughter sighed. "I can't really blame you for your reaction. Seeing a naked boy in the bathroom must have come as a shock. Now, go to your room and put on some clothes and we'll take care of Ranma, okay?"

In her panic Akane had completely forgotten that she was naked and quickly covered her breasts and crotch with her arms before running away.

The remaining people rushed to the bathroom where they discovered Ranma on the floor, curled up in foetal position with tears in his eyes as he was whimpering and holding his groin. The fathers winced in sympathy as they had been subjected to the same pain more than once in their youth after being caught by angry females while accompanying their master on his panty raids.

Nabiki appeared behind her sister and whistled when she saw the nude teenager in front of her. "WOW! Nice view."

"Nabiki!" Kasumi admonished her sister who had a lecherous look on her face. "We have to help him; he's hurt."

"OUT!" Soun ordered and the girls complied immediately.

The two men covered the unfortunate boy with a towel and carried him into the guest room where the girls were preparing a futon. They lay him down and covered him with a blanket.

"He'll be fine in a few minutes," Genma reassured them. "He's had worse."

"What do you know?" Ranma asked venomously still holding his privates. "You're not the one who's suffering."

"I'm sorry." Kasumi apologized. "I'm the one at fault here. I should have checked if the bath was free before sending you there. I hope you won't hold it against Akane. She's a nice girl most of the time, just a bit high-spirited."

"Euphemism of the century," Nabiki sarcastically corrected her sister.

"Don't sweat it," Ranma reassured the kind girl. "The tomboy may have the strength of a gorilla, but that's not enough to really hurt me. She just caught me flatfooted, that's all. It won't happen again."

Nabiki looked at him dubiously. "You don't know my sister, but who knows; wonders happen sometimes."

"Ranma, what exactly happened in the bath?" Kasumi gently enquired. "Akane has told us her version of the story and she claims you snuck in to peep and molest her."

"What? That's a damn lie. I didn't know there was someone inside."

"She's convinced you chose to ignore 'occupied' sign on the door and the clothes on the chair."

"Yeah, well if a certain someone hadn't put some indecent thoughts in my mind I wouldn't have been distracted and probably noticed those things."

"That was just a harmless joke," Nabiki defended herself.

"Oh yeah? So, offering a guy to wash his back is a joke to you?"

"NABIKI!" Soun shouted, outraged. "What's the meaning of this?"

"I was just teasing him, daddy. That's all."

"Not everyone appreciates your kind of humour, Nabiki," her father told her off. "You should know that by now."

The girl in question just shrugged. "At least I know now that Ranma thinks I'm sexy, or else my little teasing wouldn't have rattled him so much."

The martial artist blushed heavily, but didn't agree nor disagree.

Soun cleared his throat. "Be that as it may, it seems to me that the whole incident was just an honest mistake. I'm sure that once we explain everything to Akane she will calm down. Now, why don't we all go to the living room and talk about the reason for Ranma's and Genma's visit?

No one objected but Ranma stayed behind as it still hurt a bit and he needed to put on his clothes.

A few minutes later he entered the living room where all the Tendos and his father were already waiting and joined Genma on one side of the table, Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane having already taken place on the opposite side. Soun, the head of the household, was of course sitting at the head of the table.

The Tendo patriarch looked at everyone and fixated on the two youngest. "Before we begin, Akane, Ranma, don't you have something to tell each other?"

"I'm sorry," the pigtailed boy apologized. "I should have paid attention to the sign. I really didn't know you were inside."

Akane sighed. "I'm sorry too. My sisters explained everything to me. I shouldn't have overreacted like that, but I was scared."

"I understand. It was just a stupid accident. It won't happen again."

Akane nodded and felt relieved that there were no hard feelings from the martial artist's side. He seemed genuinely sorry for his actions and she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt... for the moment at least, but she would keep an eye on him just in case.

"Excellent! With that out of the way let's talk about the reason for our guests' presence here. I haven't heard the whole story yet as my old friend was just getting to the important parts when we were interrupted earlier, so all I know is what was written on the postcard. Since everyone's here I'll let Genma tell the story."

"Right!" Genma straightened up and got all serious as he entered storytelling mode.

"As Soun has probably already told you I took Ranma on a martial arts training journey when he was still very young. However, going over everything we've seen or experienced would take hours and I'll gladly tell you about it later, but for now I want to focus on the events that cut our journey short and led us to come here for help. It all started as we were walking through a small Chinese village where I heard rumours about an ancient, deserted temple. Ranma and I went to investigate as I figured that the place might contain some treasure or valuable relics."

He stopped for a moment and shook his head. "That was the biggest mistake in my life, and believe me, I've made some stupid ones. I figured it was a normal place and since we hadn't encountered any magic so far in China I didn't even consider the possibility that the place might be protected by magical wards or spells. The first thing that should have alarmed me was the very large maze we had to cross, but unfortunately I was too focused on the possible rewards to listen to my intuition and so we continued straight ahead. At first everything went well and we easily deactivated some common traps. Unfortunately, since I'm a muggle and Ranma not an accomplished wizard we never saw it coming. As we passed through a strange arch we were engulfed by a bright light and then passed out. I don't really remember what happened next, except that my body had been tingling fiercely before losing conscience. When we came to we were back in the clearing where the entrance used to be but the temple was gone. We left quickly and on our way back to the village we found out about the changes the light had done to our bodies. We were walking through the forest at a slow pace when it started to rain and I felt the odd tingling once again. I looked at my son and could hardly believe my eyes. He had turned into a girl."

He paused once again and wasn't surprised to see a stunned look on all of the Tendos' faces.

"He... turned into a girl?" Soun asked in shock. He looked at Ranma and that was definitely no girl he saw sitting there.

Before he could ask for an explanation Genma continued his story.

"I know what you want to ask. I'll get to that. Just be patient. As I said before Ranma tuned into a girl and I was shocked. I've seen magic before but that was the first time I saw someone change genders. Ranma hadn't even noticed the change until he noticed that his voice was sounding differently when he complained about the rain. I shouted his name and noticed that my voice had changed too. I looked at my arms and saw that I had undergone an even more drastic transformation."

He paused once again and grabbed a glass of cold water that had been conveniently placed next to him. "It will be easier for you to understand if I show you the curse before continuing the story."

He poured the transparent liquid on his head triggering the curse and transforming him immediately into a cute anthropomorphic panda with an hourglass figure that models would be envious of, which left the Tendo family speechless.

"Is... is that you?" The Tendo patriarch asked not believing his eyes.

"Yes, it's me," the creature answered in a soft voice.

The three girls had different reactions once they had overcome the shock. Kasumi had a smile on her face and secretly hoped that the creature would let her pet it; Nabiki's eyeballs had changed into yen signs as she was calculating how much a picture of the panda girl was worth to a furry fan; Akane just sat there open-mouthed and still as a statue, completely out of it.

"As you can see it's a complete change but it doesn't hurt. Cold water triggers the curse and changes me into this form."

"How do you change back?" Soun enquired.

Instead of answering he grabbed another glass of water, this one steaming, and repeated the earlier procedure. "Hot water reverses the curse," he explained now back in his normal body.

The Tendos silently digested the information they just got, but very soon Nabiki, curious by nature especially when she was smelling money making opportunities, broke the silence and was the first to ask THE question that was burning in everyone's minds "So, can we see Ranma's curse? I'd really like to know what he looks like as a girl, although I doubt that it's as spectacular as your transformation. If his male form is anything to go by she is probably quite the looker."

Genma sighed heavily and really looked miserable now. "Oh, definitely, but his curse is far worse than mine. You'll understand why very soon."

He took the pitcher of water from the table and poured the cold liquid in a glass.

"Allow me." Kasumi took the pitcher and filled the other glass. She took out her wand and put the tip to the glass. "STEAMUS!"

The pigtailed boy's eyes were transfixed by this simple bit of magic. He simply had to learn that spell as he'd always have easy access to warm water.

"Could you teach me that spell?" He asked and inwardly rejoiced when Kasumi nodded.

Soun was perplexed. Why did the boy ask something like that? Wasn't he a squib?

Before he could ask his old training partner had already taken the glass and splashed Ranma with its contents.

"Hey! Can't you give a guy a warning?" A definitely feminine voice complained after the usual transformation into a blonde knockout had occurred. Immediately afterwards Ranma looked around and braced herself for the usual reactions of either lust or hate.

She was pleasantly surprised, however, when she saw the Tendo patriarch's reaction... or rather lack thereof. The man had tears in his eyes, feeling sorry for the young boy, but otherwise was stoically sitting there, barely leaking any feelings of lust. That was when she remembered what her father had told her. Although the man's wife had died many years ago he had never been able to get over his loss and was still clinging to her memory like a drowning man to a life buoy. Ranma didn't know if she should admire or pity him for his dedication.

The girls' reactions were mostly what she'd expected them to be. All three of them glared at the blonde, feelings of envy and jealousy visible on their faces, and Akane had even gotten into a martial arts stance, as her fighting instincts had probably alarmed her of the potential danger the creature represented. However, before the situation could get out of hand Genma transformed his son back. The sisters blinked a few times as if waking from a trance, and wondered what had just happened.

"What was that about?" Soun reprimanded his daughters. "I admit, he changes into a very pretty girl, but that's no excuse to act like that. You should be ashamed of yourselves."

"Don't blame them; they can't help it." Genma defended the girls. "Their reaction to the curse is quite natural considering what my son turns into."

"What do you mean?" Soun wondered. "I don't see what's so special about his curse after seeing yours."

"I'd rather have my pop's curse. That would make my life a lot easier," Ranma bitterly disagreed. "After all, he's not the one who turns into a Veela."

Kasumi didn't say anything, but the news came as a real surprise. Sure, he knew about animagi and the polyjuice potion, but she'd never heard of a spell that could turn someone into a magical creature. She really pitied they boy, though. It was probably hard enough to turn into a girl, but becoming a Veela would make it very difficult for him to be accepted in the magical community.

At the same time Nabiki's face developed a predatory, shark-like grin as her mercenary nature was pushing through and she was already coming up with various money making schemes: nude photos, dating services, pleasure slave, potion ingredients... the possibilities were endless.

Akane and Soun just looked at the boy in confusion as they had never heard of Veela before.

"What is a Veela? And what is so terrible about becoming one?" The Tendo patriarch asked and Akane nodded, just as curious as her father.

"There are several reasons; probably even more than I'm aware of. All the information I have comes from a book, so it's probably far from complete. First of all Veela are magical creatures and I'm sure I don't have to tell you how the Magical World often treats them, even if they haven't done anything wrong. Add to that they boy's family and their views and you can imagine what will happen once they find out."

"I can see how that might be a problem and the reaction my daughters showed earlier is probably also related to the curse, am I right?"

"Indeed. Veela can transform into gigantic birds of prey, which gives them tremendous strength and they have a natural affinity to fire and can control it quite easily with some training However, those are not their most frightening abilities. No, what makes them really dangerous is the powerful charm aura they produce, an aura your daughters and you have been subjected to, although you seem to be immune. Basically this allows them to easily entrance and charm men while at the same time causing extreme feelings of envy and jealousy in women. The problem is that Ranma can't control the aura and won't be able to unless he finds a teacher who can teach him."

"Why didn't it affect me?" Soun asked.

"People who are already deeply in love with someone else are immune to the aura."

Kasumi gave the boy a sympathetic look. Many years before when she was still very young and didn't know or care about magical politics she had read a fairy tale book about magical creatures and she had especially liked the stories about Veela. She'd always wondered in those days what it would be like to be a Veela and have those awesome powers. She had long forgotten about it but Ranma's curse brought those memories back. However, today she knew better and shook her head at her own naiveté. She wouldn't trade places with Ranma for all the money in the world.

Akane for her part was not sure what to think. On the one hand she had believed her sisters when they told her that the incident in the bathroom had been an accident, and Ranma had really sounded sincere when he apologized, but the curse... that really made her rethink things. Ranma was a boy and what boy wouldn't jump on the occasion to fondle a female body. That was definitely perverted. She shuddered as she imagined all the bad things the boy had probably done to and in that body or how he had might have used to power to charm innocent people and molest them. She was at a loss as to what to do. She wanted to trust him, she really did, but in light of this new information that was a really hard thing to do, so for the moment he was on probation. However, should he ever try and act in a perverted manner she would be there to stop him. After all, being the martial artist of the family it was up to her to protect her helpless sisters' virtue from this potential sexual predator.

"I see. That is indeed quite a predicament you're in, but why did you come here? Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm happy to see you and your son, but I'm just a muggle. I don't know anything about magic or how to dispel curses."

"Well, there are two reasons. For one I thought that you might be able to use your contacts in the magical government to find a Veela that would be willing to help him and secondly I was hoping to find a wizard who would be willing to teach the boy magic or even to have him enrolled in a Japanese magical school."

"Teaching him magic?"Soun asked incredulously, having not expected that answer. "Why? Isn't he a squib?"

"As it turns out he's not," Genma sheepishly answered scratching the back of his head. "I guess he was just a late bloomer since he had used accidental magic a few years ago to get out of danger. Unfortunately I can't teach him and usually wizards are not something you can find in the wilderness."

"So, he's a wizard," the moustachioed man mused, lost in thought. There was something about that that brought back some old memories. Then it hit him and his eyes widened when he realized the implications. "He's a wizard?"

"Yes. Imagine my surprise when I found out. I never told his family and honestly I have no intention of ever informing them. They had had their chance with the boy and they blew it."

"That's great news," Soun jumped up and grabbed Genma by his shoulders not reacting to his friends explanation. "That means the pact can be upheld."

"What pact? What are you talking about?"

"The pact, you know. The one our wives came up with."

Genma had a very bad feeling about this as he was afraid that it would complicate Ranma's life even more.

Seeing the uncomprehending look on his friend's face Soun understood right away that the other man had no clue as to what he was talking about. "Didn't Nodoka tell you? About the promise my wife and she made before you had met her?"

"No, she didn't," _'and I'm not sure I want to know,_' he added mentally.

"It happened after Nodoka and Kimiko had come back from one of their wild parties. They were completely drunk and one of them thought that it would be a great idea to have both of their family lines united through marriage."

The girls were too stunned to. This was the first time they had heard of it.

Genma rubbed his forehead in frustration. This was even worse than what he had expected.

"They drew up a contract in which they agreed to organize an omiai between their children once they came of age."

The bald martial artist breathed a sigh of relief. It was only an omiai. That he could deal with. "No, I didn't know about it, but they are still too young for that. Maybe in a few years. My son has enough problems already and for now he needs friends more than prospective wives. Let's wait and see how things develop."

"You're absolutely right, Saotome." The Tendo patriarch agreed. "There are more important matters to deal with. You came for help and I'll do whatever I can to help you. I will ask around and see what I can come up with. There must be some people in the magical government who can give me the information we need. It will probably take a few days, however."

"That's not a problem. That will give Ranma the opportunity to visit the Magical World. He hasn't been there before and I know he's quite eager to see it. Maybe he can join your girls at their wizarding school for a few days and meet more witches and wizards."

"That's a very good idea. I'll owl the school right away and see if it can be done."

The Tendo patriarch was about to leave the table when he was stopped by Ranma. "Wait! What about my curse?"

"Ranma, you shouldn't let the curse control your life. Just try and avoid places with water and take your umbrella and a thermos of water with you, and if there should be any kind of problem I'm sure that Soun's daughters will be able to help, won't you girls?"

The three girls nodded and Soun left to write the letter. In the meantime Ranma asked some questions about the magical school and the Magical World in general. Genma was silently listening to the conversation, happy to see that the youngsters seemed to be getting along.

Soun came back a few minutes later. "Okay, it's done. The answer should arrive soon. The school's only 20 minutes away."

"Really? It's that close?"

"Hahaha. We're living right next to one of the entrances to Magical Tokyo," Soun explained. "I'm sure you'll love it."

"You'll be quite surprised, son," Genma added. "I know I was the first time I entered the place. It is an experience like none other."

Ranma let his imagination run wild and he couldn't wait to see it.

"Oh, there's one more matter that must be dealt with. The bald man continued. "My son will need a wand. Do you know where we can buy one and how much it will cost?"

"There's a wand maker not far away. If you want to I can take you there tomorrow," Kasumi offered. "As for the price it depends on the material used to craft it."

As the reunion came to a close the pigtailed boy and the girls got up and left the fathers to their reminiscing. Kasumi went to cook dinner while her sisters went to their respective rooms.

Ranma stayed with Kasumi and asked. "Do you have any books on the Magical World I could borrow?"

"Yes, of course. Wait a moment. I'll go get some in my room."

Ranma waited and a few minutes later the eldest daughter came back with a pile of books floating next to her. "Here you go. I got you a bit of everything and especially school manuals. That way you'll have at least an idea as to what awaits you tomorrow."

"Thanks a lot Kasumi." He took the books and left for the guest room, eager to read some more. He had already finished the books he got from the Amazons.

Finished and posted: 12/30/2011

Edited 01/01/2012


End file.
